


Meadow Moonight

by JaneCorvin



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F, FWB, Family, Fluff, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-01-15 10:23:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12319125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneCorvin/pseuds/JaneCorvin
Summary: Established ballet guru Dr. Maura Isles finds talent and passion in a place she least expects. A boy: 5' 4", brown hair, and amazing lines. Last name, Rizzoli. A woman: 5' 10", brown hair, and a smile as bright as moonlight. Last name, also Rizzoli. (Dancer/Cop AU)





	1. Chapter 1

Maura hated going to these things; well, not really hate. She thought they were a waste her of time. Maura's studio agent convinced her that going to scout out dancers from the slums of Boston was a way to a quick humanitarian success story. He guilt tripped her into going to these low budget musicals put on by high school students by saying that it would speak volumes about her studio. As much as Maura wanted to believe that anyone could be a part of her company solely based on their talent, it just wasn't true. Her lessons were expensive, but parents came from around the world just to have the chance at getting their child into her dance company.

"I should be teaching them right now," she mumbled to herself as she swung her legs to the side for yet another person to pass by her and take their seat.

"Excuse me. Is this seat taken?" asked a woman standing in front of the chair beside her. When Maura didn't reply, just sat staring at her, the woman shrugged her shoulders and moved to sit down.

Maura was instantly enthralled by the woman. She had dark hair that fell in ringlets past her shoulders and down her back. What little she had seen of the woman's eyes intrigued her. _She asked you something._ Maura tried to think of what to say, but she couldn't even remember the question.

She sat staring until the woman finally stopped pretending to read the program and lifted her head to meet Maura's gaze. Not knowing why the mute woman was staring at her, and Maura not knowing what to say had both of them uneasily looking at each other. Finally, Maura couldn't hold it in anymore and her brain suddenly kick started. She blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"I don't have any children here. Or at all. I mean not that I don't want children. I don't hate children either. I just don't have any. Right now." After a beat of silence the woman squinted her eyes at Maura. She looked completely bewildered for a long moment before she released a shaky chuckle that made Maura blush.

"Um, okay…I uh…Honestly, I have no idea how to respond to that."

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant to say." The brunette slowly nodded her head; her eyes curiously taking in this woman, trying to figure out what her deal was.

"Yeah, I figured."

"I meant to ask…what it was that you just asked me," the dancer said slowly trying to let her mind catch up to the sentence she was trying to put together.

"Oh, I was asking if anyone was sitting here." She gestured to her own seat.

Silence. Then, "I'm Maura." She internally cursed herself for not being able to form an actual coherent answer to this total stranger's question. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ The brunette woman let a grin slowly spread across her face as she resettled herself more into her seat turning almost completely to face Maura.

"Hi Maura. I'm Jane."

"I'm-sorry. What I meant was, no. There wasn't anyone sitting there." Jane chuckled again, but before she could respond the lights in the auditorium started to dim and the woman turned forward. Maura reluctantly turned around as well when the show began.

Through the first half of the musical, Maura's thoughts continued to drift back to the woman sitting beside her and she started to appreciate how close the seats were. Maura could feel every breath and every chuckle the brunette took and whenever Jane would move to scratch her nose or run her long fingers through her hair, she would brush arms with Maura. The last time it happened she gasped and Jane turned to her and apologized, moving her arm from the armrest and both of her hands to her lap. She inwardly chastised herself for reacting that way.

Maura had been around really attractive woman in her profession: dancers, dance moms, fans, and had even dated a few. She was especially used to them being completely taken with her whether it be because of her status in the dance world, her looks, or her wealth. However, none of them had had quite the effect on her that this women sitting next to her had. In the midst of her thoughts she saw out of the corner of her eye Jane break into a beaming smile at something and when Maura glanced at the stage she saw the reason for the woman's sudden joy.

 _Oh my God._ There he was. Her diamond in the rough. He glided from one side of the stage to the other. Legs, long. Knees, strong. Wrists, flowing. Feet, pointed. He was solely enraptured in the music. His movement's more than just steps. The boy moved to his first arabesque tucking his chin down slowly into his chest to suddenly fall into a front roll coming to stand in a "V" position and sliding into a split. Maura leapt to the edge of her seat with her attention focused on the boy throughout his solo. Legs, long. Knees, strong. Wrists, flowing. Feet, pointed.

"He's perfect." She whispered more to herself, but was shocked out of her concentration when she heard a low voice from behind her.

"He sure is." Maura turned to see that Jane was still staring at the boy on stage and slowly sat back in her seat. Taking her program, she began riffling through it for the boy's name. She searched and searched through all of the previous dancers, but Maura didn't really see their names. All she saw was, flexed toes. Weak arms. Disconnected. Heavy feet. But then she found him. Perfection in the form of one dark haired boy with the most beautiful lines she'd ever seen. One name. Leonardo Rizzoli.

* * *

Jane waited for her son at the back stage exit with a few other parents. She was so ready to see him and tell him that he did all of his worrying for nothing. Leo had been working non-stop in the makeshift dance studio she had built him in her mother's basement. When he first came home from school with the news that he had been casted as a dancer in one of the musicals, she knew he would be locked away in there for hours every day. He was nervous that he would miss something or forget a step in the routine while performing and Jane hopelessly tried to remind him that he was the one who choreographed the routine, but he was still petrified. Mother knows best. Just then the doors opened and the performers began to pour out. She looked around until she finally caught sight of his dark hair.

"Leo! Over here!" The boy spotted her and ran over surprising her with a bear hug.

"Did you see me? Everyone said it was really good and they were all super shocked when I told them I was the one who made it up!"

"I bet they were," she mumbled with her lips pressed to his hair. "I can't tell you how many parents have come up to me and complimented you. I told you that you'd do an amazing job. You always do." She was stunned when they began to walk to the car and he held onto her. Despite their relationship being so close he was in his weird teenage, stop hugging me phase.

"Hey, listen bug. You know Nona wanted to come, but she had to work."

"That's okay. You came." She pulled him tighter in a side hug and kissed the top of his head as they continued toward their car.

"I wouldn't miss it."

Maura had been looking everywhere for her perfect boy. She looked in the lobby, in the banquet hall, and even went behind stage. She had gone to the dressing room where one of the performers had only gawked at her upon immediately recognizing who she was.

"Listen, I'm really in a hurry. So if you could just tell me if you've seen him."

"Um, yes sir…uh ma'am…Dr. Isles. Ah, he…"

The girl, red-faced and shaky form, pointed toward the exit that the boy left out of. Damn it! She had missed him. He was gone. She left out of the exit and started to walk toward the parking lot, feeling entirely defeated. Then her head perked up when she remembered that she still had the boy's name. She wouldn't let this one slip through the cracks. Just then she heard the unforgettably deep laugh of the woman who sat next to her. She looked around the parking lot to find Jane with a boy curled into her side.

"Leonardo Rizzoli?" she called across the parking lot already rushing over to them. The boy and his mother both turned toward her and the latter looked at the woman in wonderment. Maura slowed her pace stopping only a few feet in front of the pair. "Are you Leonardo Rizzoli?"

When the boy didn't say anything Jane looked down at him. He had dropped his gym bag on the ground and stood rooted to his spot with his mouth was gapped open and his wide eyes mimicked a deer stuck in headlights. Jane shook her head before she looked back to Maura.

"Uh, yeah. He is." Maura looked to Jane and tilted her head in confusion.

"Are you his mother?"

"Yes I am. Now is there something I can help you with or are you just going to keep on saying and asking me random things?" Jane asked only half joking. Before Maura could respond, Leo grabbed Jane's arm in a death grip.

"Ma! Do you have any idea who she is?" He hissed, with a look of urgency on his face.

"No," Jane admitted slowly. "I mean her name's Maura."

"Yeah, ma. Dr. Maura Isles. You know of the IDC!"

"The, what?"

"IDC…The Isles Dance Company!" Jane's eyebrows shot up and her face turned beat red as her son's words sank in. Leo had always talked about joining a dance studio. When Leo got to high school he stated struggling with his academia. So, instead of joining a dance studio, his mother had to spend that money on a tutor.

"Oh, Ms. Isles. I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"It's Dr. Isles actually and really, it's okay." Jane smiled and wiped her hand on her jeans before she stuck it out for Maura to shake which she took a little too eagerly.

"I'm Jane Rizzoli. We sat next to each other inside."

"Yes. I remember," Maura smiled shyly.

"It makes sense now. Why you were staring so hard at my kid. You're a dance teacher. That's-"

"Ma, she's not just a dance teacher. She owns the studio. She graduated from Bolshoi Ballet Academy when she was only seventeen years old. Then she was recruited to the Kirov Company for five years and when she was with them she won the national award for Best Female Dancer and Best Female Performance her last four years there. And she even won some awards for her partner work in contemporary and Russian ballet.

"Then she taught classical ballet at Julliard for three years. Oh, Ma! T-Then, she started her own dance company right here in Boston and don't even get me started on how many awards they've won…" He trailed off overly excited and slightly out of breath. He looked at his mother as she looked at him with an amused smile, before turning back to Maura.

"So, you're like perfection, huh?"

"Yup, she is," the boy said through his grin.

Maura smiled nervously and started fiddling with her purse. She didn't hate it when people talked about her accomplishments. It just made her uncomfortable. It reminded her of all of those monotonous dinners she had to sit through with her mother's friends as she listened to her go on and on about how Maura turned out so much better than their children.

"Well…I am certainly far from perfect. I can assure you of that."

"And she's modest too. That's cute."

By this point the heat radiating from both of their cheeks was palpable. Jane looked away pursing her lips as if trying to keep other potentially awkward things from coming out of her mouth and Maura cleared her throat taking her purse off of her shoulder and tucking it under her arm.

"Um, so Dr. Isles. Did you enjoy my performance?" He started not to ask for fear that she would shoot him down. Maura set her shoulders and stared into the boys eyes.

"You, Leonardo Rizzoli are…I-When you dance…" Maura took a deep breath. "I have never seen someone so young with such an amazingly easy dance technique like yours in my entire life. How old are you?" The boy stared up at his mother with a smile that spread across his entire mouth.

"I'm thirteen."

"T-Thirteen?"

"Yes ma'am." Maura looked up into Jane's face for confirmation to see her gazing at her son lovingly.

"That's, well that's astonishing. Who do you dance with? I can't think of anyone who would be able to train such a vessel. Anyone in the States anyway."

"No one. I kind of taught myself." Maura laughed. _He has to be joking_ , she thought as she closed her eyes to catch her bearings. She couldn't understand how this boy could have taught his own self to dance so technically, unless…

"He's a prodigy." She breathed out.

"What did you say?" Jane suddenly asked suddenly brining herself back into the conversation.

"You're son. He's a prodigy, Ms. Rizzoli." The boy's mother looked back at Leo who was positively buzzing with joy. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer.

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Leonardo your lines are marvelous and your fingers are so articulate…and…I am in love with your feet."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Isles. That sounds amazing coming from you."

"I'm not saying this just to be nice." The boy curiously looked at her. "Leonardo, I want you." When they both only looked at her incredulously, she realized what she said.

"No, that's not what I meant to say." Jane let out a loud laughed.

"Yeah, that seems to be a common occurrence with you." Maura blushed remembering their previous interaction and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"What I meant was, I want you to be a part of my dance studio." The boy clasped his hand over his mouth and turned to his mother jumping up and down.

"Ma, can I!? Please! Can I please!?" Jane looked from her son to the woman and back to her son. She really did want to say yes. Of course she wanted this beyond amazing opportunity for him. By the way that Leo described her accomplishments, Maura seemed like she could get him into some pretty amazing doors. She looked into his face hating herself for what she was about to do.

"Bug, I'm…you know I would say yes in a heartbeat. Especially with how prestigious this all seems to be but…you can't." The boy's face fell immediately and his shoulders sank. Arguing would be useless, because deep down he knew what the answer would be before he asked it. He turned back to face Maura who could tell he was willing himself not to cry.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Isles. I can't." Maura began to panic. She couldn't let this amazing talent go untamed, unseen from the rest of the world.

"Ms. Rizzoli, if I may ask. Why not?"

"Look, Dr. Isles I really appreciate the time you're trying to give my kid. We're both really grateful, but honestly…I wouldn't be able to afford you. I'm sorry." Jane reached down and grabbed her son's duffle bag and his hand and they started once again toward the car. Maura was in full 'Oh Shit' mode with the fact that he was slipping away echoing in her head.

"Wait!" They both stopped without turning around and the blonde rushed to stand in front of them again. "Maybe we could work something out. I just can't stand to see such a talent go unappreciated. He needs to be in a studio…he needs to be in my studio-"

"Dr. Isles-"

"No please, just…just here me out. You bring him for an audition. He will go through a process with other boys his age. Then he will come in for a private audition." At the word audition the boy's ears perked up.

"Wait I have to audition. Hundreds of dancer try out for this every year. How many open spots do you have?" The blonde looked down and swallowed thickly.

"…thirty, but most of them will not be in your age group. And Leonardo, rest assured. You will make it through. Trust me. And once you're in the company, then we can talk about how much you can afford."

Jane contemplated this for a while. Chewing on her lip, she looked at Maura's pleading eyes. She started to shake her head, but before she could say anything Maura spoke again. "Please, Ms. Rizzoli. Just an audition."

With a sigh Jane finally relented. "Fine, just an audition." The boy immediately leapt into his mother's arms and squeezed her tightly.

"Thanks, Ma, you're the best. And you too, Dr. Isles!"

Willing herself not to run to the woman and throw her arms around her neck, Dr. Isles settled for a curt nod and a smile. "Thank you, Ms. Rizzoli," she said lowely.

"Uh huh." Jane said mockingly as she smirked at the blonde woman. Maura reached into her bag and handed Jane her business card.

"Here. You can email me personally and I will send you the audition information and itinerary." Jane took the card and smiled. Without another word she wrapped her arm around her son's shoulders and walked to their car.

_My diamond. I found them…That's not what I meant. Him. I found him._

* * *

"Lee?" Jane called from the bathroom. She was sitting on the toilet seat after she had repeatedly offered him her help only to be shut down.

_I'm fine. I can do it, Ma._

She'd simply rolled her eyes and waited for him to slip into his swimming trunks. _You're my son. I've seen you naked before._ He'd looked at her with terror on his face, claiming that there were a few things that had changed since he was in diapers.

When Leo was younger he was practically her shadow. Her son followed her around, fiercely independent and a tad bit nosey. But of course he got that second part from his Nona. He was always doing everything she did and wanted for a long time to be a police officer. That is until he discovered dance, from some television show none the less. She encouraged his dream to be a dancer in any way she could; right now though she wasn't so sure that dancing was safer than being a cop.

"You don't have to stay with me. I'm just gonna sit here," he grumbled. She looked up to him in his blue trunks, arms folded over his skinny chest covered by a thick thermal jacket. Bruises appeared on the pale skin of his feet already a throbbing shade of purple and yellow.

Sighing Jane reached out to him. "I was gonna see if you needed help getting in the tub. I don't want you to hurt yourself…more." She grimaced as he rolled his shoulders and winced slightly in pain.

"I got it," she couldn't help but smile at his determined little waddle up to the tub. He slowly raised his leg struggling and her hands automatically went up to wrap around his shoulders. He didn't push her away this time, but grabbed her wrist to hoist his other leg over the edge and it was only then did she notice the calluses on the palms of his soft hands, no doubt put there by the ballet barre. She let him go so he could hold on to the wall slowly sitting down into the freezing tub.

Settled in with his head resting on the wall behind him, he exhaled a long breath before looking up at her. "Thanks, Ma." He looked pitiful really. Jane had taken one look at the itinerary that Dr. Isles had emailed her and she could feel her nerves begin to build. The woman had said Leo was a prodigy and wouldn't have any trouble with the auditions, but she knew her son. He'd never had any formal training because she couldn't afford it on a beat cop's salary. He'd get there and kill himself just to be good enough.

They were separated the moment they got to the studio, which looked more like a gutted mansion with cream colored walls and chandleries hanging from the high ceilings. Once the dancers were inside the main studio, the parents were taken to an auditorium across a large green space for a meeting. 405. The most students to audition there at the same time in the IDC history and only thirty spots. Jane sat alone while all the parents talked around her. She'd hoped to see Maura again and get a chance to talk to her about some kind of payment plan, but she was not in the meeting or in the studio when Jane snooped around unattended.

"I'm sorry, bug."

"For what?" he said scrunching up his face.

"Letting you do this. You don't have to go back tomorrow. I'll just email Maura and tell her-"

"What!" he yelped sitting up quickly then slowly sinking back into the tub with a hiss. "Don't do that. It was fun and the instructors weren't as scary as I thought they would be. Some of the kids were kinda stuck up but I made a few friends."

"Bug…you're hurt."

"No," he said teasingly rolling his eyes, "I'm sore. There's a difference." The smirk on his face diminished the moment she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Ma, really I want to do this…no pain, no gain, right?"

She looked down at him and his goofy grin and shook her head smiling. "On or off?" she said gesturing to the light switch.

"Off. Can you?" She nodded her head as she reached for his speakers turning up the volume of the song he would possibly be auditioning to tomorrow. "Thanks, Ma," he whispered bringing his arms into the tub and sinking down until the water reached the bottom of his rib cage.

"Let me know if you need more ice. I bought six bags."

"I think I got enough," he laughed wiggling himself around like a snake in the ice cubes, his teeth chattering. Chucking, Jane turned off the light and closed the door. She stood for a moment as the sound of _O Fortuna_ bellowed from inside. The woman wasn't sure how that was supposed to help him relax because just the muffled music through the door was making her heart beat faster.

She made her way to the kitchen putting away the takeout containers that her son had hastily eaten. It was nearing midnight when they finally got home from the group auditions, and her poor, gangly, exhausted child couldn't think of anything other than an ice bath. So, she'd ordered from the car arriving at the same time as the delivery driver.

Jane tied the draw strings of the trash bag to take it out to the dumpster when her phone buzzed, sliding across the counter. She looked at the time on the wall and then to her phone that displayed a number, not already saved in her phone.

"Hello?" Jane answered. There was a slight pause before the voice on the other side responded hesitantly.

"You're not sleeping?" Jane's eyebrows shot up at the surprised voice. "Ms. Rizzoli, are you still there?" finally familiarity of the voice hit her and she sat down on the stool next to her dropping the garbage bag to the floor.

"Dr. Isles? I wasn't expecting…um I thought the callbacks would be announced at the meeting tomorrow."

"They will be, but I just wanted to call to…" she trailed off wondering exactly why she had chosen to call this woman at nearly one in the morning. All she knew is that her thoughts kept circling back to Leo and by default back to Jane herself. When they first met the attraction was instant; for Maura at least. It'd been a while since she felt something more than physical for someone and she just could not contain her curiosity. She'd looked at Leo's group audition eyes solely on him. For the better part of an hour she analyzed his movements and pined over what she wanted to start working on in his private lessons. The boy was remarkable. She supposed that's what she'd meant to say when her hands dialed the number in Leo's file. Truly she hadn't expected for anyone to answer, and when Jane's exhausted voice crackled through the line she lost her train of thought.

"I get it." Jane said sighing.

"You get what?"

"Look, I appreciate you calling. I mean it would be better for me to tell him, I guess. It just sucks because he had so much fun and made a few friends which is sometimes hard for him and…anyway I'll tell him he didn't make it so you-"

Maura gasped on the other end of the line. "No! Oh, God no! The opposite actually."

"So, wait. He got in?" Jane picked up her trash bag making her way to the front door.

"Essentially. He passed the general auditions. Now he just has the private audition with me and I'm sure that's going to go well." She smiled to herself. Honestly, watching the boy dance wouldn't be hard at all and she couldn't help but wonder how far she could take him in the future. "I wasn't there today, but a lot of the instructors were telling me how well he was doing. They said he was _the_ best boy in his age group and one of the top in the overall."

"Yeah, well," Jane grinned as she came back in the apartment locking the door and slowly turning to lean her shoulder against it. "I don't think he was expecting it to be that tough. He's in an ice bath right now."

"Hm." The dancer on the other line nodded her head and readjusted herself in her office chair. "I remember those," Maura laughed. "Just make sure he doesn't stay in too long."

Head snapping up, Jane paused before turning slowly toward the bathroom. "How long is too long?"

"Well…really no more than ten minutes but more experienced-"

"Dr. Isles, could you hold on for just a second?" Without waiting for a reply Jane cursed throwing her phone on the counter and sprinted to the bathroom.

Skidding to a stop in front of the door she knocked for half a second before jerking it open so hard that the hinges squeaked. Leo's head popped up just as he was wiping water off of his lower back. The jacket he was wearing lay across the tub and water was already draining out. He stood frozen as his mother ran her hand through her hair then placed it over her heart.

"Good," she said breathlessly, "you got out already."

"Yeah," the boy smirked as he continued drying himself off. "I'm not supposed to stay in more than ten minutes unless I'm more experienced."

"Yeah, I mean I knew that."

" _Sure,_ Ma." Leo grinned up knowingly at his mother and shook his head as he wrapped the towel around his waist. The boy stood wringing his hands and twitching his body awkwardly against the cold. "I'm having a little trouble walking. Could you help me get to my room?"

Her son with his big brown eyes, looking like every bit of her, made her heart melt. "Yeah," Hooking her arms under his, she bent her knees and picked him up, his legs awkwardly wrapping around her waist. "You're getting too tall, bug." She could feel his feet brushing her calves and was grateful that his room was close by. By the time she had let him change into his sleeping clothes-with her eyes covered and her back turned-and got him in to bed and said goodnight, she was beginning to feel the exhaustion seep into her bones as well.

"You're sure you won't get too hot?" She asked through the crack in the door. The boy gave a lopsided grin as he shook his head no pulling at the four pair of sleeping pants he was wearing, snapping the waist band against his stomach.

Jane made her way to the kitchen turning off all the lights in her apartment on the way there. She reached for the handle on the fridge door planning to grab a beer and retire for the night. Beer in hand she turned back to the kitchen counter stopping abruptly. All the blood drained from her fingers and she scrambled over to grab her cell phone. When she glanced at the screen she scrunched her face with a silent _fuck_ …a few silent fucks as she tapped her phone against her head trying to prepare herself.

Taking a deep breath, the brunette brought the phone to her ear. "Dr. Isles?"

"Jane! Is everything okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I just uh forgot you were on the phone," she said slapping her palm against her forehead and rolling her eyes at herself.

"I wouldn't have been for much longer. I wasn't sure if something was wrong Leonardo and you wanted me to call the police."

"The only person that calls him that is his grandmother," Jane chuckled as she turned out the kitchen light. "…and I am the police," she mumbled as an afterthought.

"I don't understand."

"Which part?" Jane inquired jokingly as she pulling down the covers of her comforter and slipped underneath them.

"You're a police officer?"

"Yeah, I am." The brunette injected as much pride as she could in her voice. She loved her job. Even though it kept her up late hours and she had to deal with assholes on a daily bases, she truly couldn't see herself doing anything else. "Hence why I can't pay for your lessons. I wanted to talk to you about that by the way. Got any bright ideas?"

"A few," Maura said smiling as she closed her laptop, putting Jane on speaker phone to put the computer into her bag and fish her keys out of her purse. "Don't worry so much."

"Yeah, well that's kind of my job. Speaking of," glancing at her clock, Jane reached over to turn off her lamp light, "I traded with a buddy for an early shift since your auditions are tomorrow evening. I have to be up in like four hours."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize." Maura thought about how it was almost euphoric how easy it was to talk to this woman. They'd only spoken once before, but now it seemed like they'd been knowing each other for a very long time. So easy. So completely _easy_. Maura groaned at how cliché she sounded. "I'm actually about to head home now myself."

"Where are you?" Jane asked before she even thought about it, but recovered quickly, "Cause it's kind of two in the morning."

"1:45 to be exact," Maura commented softly. "I'm leaving the office. There's a lot of paper work that goes into spring auditions for 400 dancers."

"405… _to be exact,_ " Jane sassed back making Maura laugh freely. "But seriously. It's dangerous, especially being there by your lonesome."

"Who says I'm alone?" The teasing tone was absolutely unmistakable and Jane couldn't help but reply back in the like.

"So, what? You got a boyfriend there or something?" Jane held he breathe, unsure of why the hell she decided of all the things in the world to say that.

The dancer was quiet for a moment, contemplating how she wanted to play this. The chemistry was immediate but she wasn't sure if Jane knew what she was actually getting herself into. Finally, she settled on the same tone. "No." she whispered. Jane swallowed audibly, curling and stretching her toes underneath the covers.

"Hm…" she said into the silence. Clearing her throat she croaked, "Well, Doctor. I should probably go."

"Yes, me too."

"Okay. Goodnight?" She said skeptically. Was it weird to say that to her child's possible dance teacher?

Letting out a half _Goodnight_ and half laughing sigh, Maura disconnected the call. Breathing out slowly she locked the door to her office, turned off the main lights in the studio and made her way to her car for a long drive to Beacon Hill.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking alongside her son, Jane reached to the band holding her hair back and released it from its tight bun at the base of her neck. She shook it out until it fell down hiding the J. Rizzoli of her uniform name tag. Rubbing the tired out of the crinkles around her eyes she took a deep breath and readjusted the gun on her kit belt. As soon as she had finished her shift at two in the afternoon she had to rush over to pick up Leo from her mother's house to get to his audition at the IDC, leaving no time to change out of her dress blues.

Angela admitted that she had to practically pry him from his mini studio in the basement to feed him, claiming that he would tire himself out before he got there. Her precious boy was extremely nervous and jittery despite being told that he was guaranteed a spot. The dancer said he didn't just want to _have_ a spot…he wanted to _earn_ it. The Rizzoli pride that he had, made Jane smile and remember her time in the academy. Training, pushing all the way to the top.

His tension showed in the way his long stride carried him in front of her to the door. If she was being honest she was nervous for another reason and that made her feel guilty. If he didn't make it, he would be devastated. If he did make it…well, Jane still wasn't sure how she would pay for it. Every weekday she worked the beat from midnight to 8 am then she'd pick the boy up from his Nona's house to take him to school. She was so close to making detective now. Had she not had a hick-up her second year on the beat she'd be working homicide by now.

Leo pulled the door open and Jane thanked him as he held it wider for her to walk through first. A black woman with wavy shoulder length hair was standing at the front of the lobby directing all the dancers into the auditorium across the green space, while the parents were instructed to stay back and wait until after callbacks were completed. Walking up to her, Jane mustered a smile.

"Excuse me. Is Doctor Isles around? I wanted to talk to her about my son."

"Yes, she's in the auditorium," she gestured behind her. "But she's doing the callbacks personally so you'll have to wait." Looking past Jane the woman continued to direct the thick traffic of people.

Sighing, the brunette woman looked around for an open seat. When she found one she sank heavily into it rubbing the back of her neck and cursing the last perp who decided to make a run for it over a little pot she found in his pocket. Closing her eyes she tried to fight the oncoming migraine when a shrill voice rang out beside her.

"I really hope my Stephen gets in! He's been dancing for years? What about yours? My child has been performing since he was old enough to stand on his own. We've been to France, Germany, Japan…"

Jane bit her tongue and turned wide eyes to the woman beside her talking her ears off. She settled in and braced herself as the woman's piercing voice rose in volume and pitch.

* * *

Leo scooted along the plush chairs of the auditorium brushing knees, avoiding toes and stumbling over gym bags. Almost all of the seats were taken and he couldn't see one familiar face in the sea of dancers. Some were talking excitedly to their peers while others were perched with their posture perfect, legs crossed, and noses stuck way up in the air. There were a few that were praying with their friends and there was a group of girls doing random pirouettes in the back. He was just about to sit in an empty seat on the end in the very back when someone called his name. Searching around, he was confused until a girl stood up on top of her seat waving her hands frantically in the air. Relief flooded the boy's body and he picked up his gym bag to run up to the third row from the stage to sit next to her.

"I saved you a seat!" She said excitedly.

"Thanks," he expressed genuinely. Kenya was one of the girls he had met yesterday in the overalls. When he walked into Audition Room G she was sitting on the floor in the very front of the class. Her mocha skin stretched as she looked up and smiled a grand smile already waving him over as if they hadn't just met when he walked into the room. But of course he went over and was partnered with her through most of the routine.

Lightly kicking Leo's bag with her toe, Kenya scrunched her face and asked, "Whatcha got in there?"

"Just clothes and stuff," he shrugged. Without asking his permission she reached down and unzipped the bag to examine its contents. Usually he hated when people touched his things, but her nonchalant, brazen personality had him wondering if she was this overly familiar with everybody. For some reason he was okay with it and looked on with amusement as she dug through his bag.

"Geez. You plan on spending the night here?" She joked sifting through the three pair of pants he had in his bag. "How many do you need…why don't you just wear your spanks?"

"Me spanks?" He asked incredulously. "Cause I'm a boy that's why. If I wear shorts, all the guys will look at me funny."

Kenya scoffed loudly and threw her hands up. "Who cares what they think? You're the best one here and everyone knows it. And even if you didn't wear shorts people are gonna find something else to be jealous of anyway…I say just be you." She sat back in her seat with a smug smirk on her face.

Leo looked on in equal parts wonderment and delight. He was certain that he'd never met anyone like her. "You're right."

"I know," she admitted. "Trust me, the only opinion that matters is Dr. Isles'." And in that moment, the auditorium went intensely silent as the light, yet striking click of heels walking across the polished stage floor caught everyone's attention.

Every single pair of eyes was focused on her in recognition as Maura came to the very middle of the stage, poised with her head held high. She held a microphone in one hand and her cellphone in the other. She stood there in her hunter green one-shouldered dress, silently gazing out into the audience for nearly a minute before bringing the mic to her lips.

To some it may have seemed like she was going for intimidation. Some of the dancers she taught would describe her as aloof and serious, because she didn't talk _much_ to them outside of the dance room. Now, her lips where pursed, back straight, and eyes slightly squinted as she looked several of the students in the eyes. But the truth was she was preparing herself.

As a dancer, she had gone through the process of auditioning and wanting so badly to be good enough. Though her rejection count was virtually nonexistent she could easily empathize with these young people. She absolutely did not enjoy cutting them and to see the look on their faces when their name was not called never failed to break her heart. So, really she stood still because she needed to center herself for what she was about to do. She squinted to keep the tears away and looked into their eyes hoping to convey her grief.

"Good afternoon," she welcomed clearly. Their voices boomed back the greeting and Maura inhaled deeply, taking a step forward on the stage. "Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for attending and auditioning this weekend. I know the routines have been rigorous and I want to congratulate you all for making it this far. As you may know, this year we only have thirty open spots…" she peered out into the stillness engulfing the entire auditorium. Swallowing loudly and licking her dry lips, she unlocked her phone and pulled up the list. "If you hear your name called you are to grab your bag and go into warm-up room A or B to prepare for your final audition. If you do not hear your name called…I hope to see you next year at our fall audition."

Maura fiddled with the phone in her hand a moment longer before clearing her throat and looking down at the list. She gave a small smile as she looked up for the first name. "Leonardo Rizzoli…" No one was surprised except the boy himself. He stood as if on autopilot and picked up his bag. After receiving an encouraging pat (more like a small shove) on the back from Kenya, he locked eyes with Maura on stage before walking to the side door exit. He could feel eyes on him and as the door grew closer and closer, it became increasingly more difficult to contain the grin on his face.

He exited the room, the door banging behind him and jarring Maura from her silence. Blinking rapidly she began rattling off the rest of the names in quick succession. "Peter Campbell, Janice Hill…"

* * *

"…And he even got this award from his is old school. He's in private school now of course. So, tell me about your son Leon."

Jane blinked at the woman with her mouth hanging open. The entire half hour that the kids were in the meeting she had not stopped talking. The officer wasn't sure what convinced the woman that she was in any mood to be talked to. Maybe it was the way she leaned back in her chair, or closed her eyes, or attempted to sleep... She had only paused to take a breath and ask Jane what her son's name was. Even then she obviously hadn't listened.

"Um…well, _Leo_ -"

"Oh! Oh! Yes, _Leo_. That's short for Leonardo isn't it? My husband's friend's name is Leo. He is one of the best divorce attorney's in Boston. Not the best of course, because that would be my husband. He-"

"Ms. Rizzoli?" Jane's head whipped around ready to go off on whoever dared to try engaging her in another conversation, but halted when she saw that it was the same woman from earlier that was instructing people on where to go. "Can I speak with you for just a second?" she had a certain look on her face and without questioning her Jane looked back at the chatty Kathy apologetically before standing and following the other woman around the corner.

"What's wrong? Is Leo okay?" she asked anxiously.

Turning around the woman tilted her head. "I'm not sure." Jane's eyes widened and the woman hurried to continue. "I mean I'm sure he is. It just seemed like you could use some saving." The confusion on Jane's face cleared and she sighed letting her head fall against the wall, closing her eyes.

"Thanks." Jane chuckled looking over to the smirking woman. "Wait a minute…how did you know my name?"

"You're Leonardo's mother, right?" Jane nodded her head. "Maura said you were a cop." The brunette woman had forgotten she had on her uniform. Sticking her hand out Jane asked the woman for her name. "Nina Holiday. Dance mom to Kenya, AV Technician to IDC, and best friend to Maura Isles."

"It's nice to meet you," she smiled. The woman had an easy going vibe about her and it instantly made Jane more relaxed. "Are they done with the callbacks yet?"

"Yes," came a voice from around the corner. When Jane turned around she could immediately feel her body heat up. She hadn't seen Maura since that day in the parking lot almost a week ago and it was no secret that she was gorgeous. She was a dancer and had the body of one. Her stomach stretched tightly over delicate abs and her legs and arms were toned with soft, subtle muscles that flexed when she walked. Her dress molded across her body like a glove and there was a slight sway in her hips as she got closer to them. Simply breathtaking.

When Maura get close enough she observed Jane looking at her and stumbled a little in her heals as she came to a stop bumping shoulders a little with Nina. She could see her friend out of the side of her eye looking at her with raised eye brows. She stood there and looked from Maura to Jane and back again before lowering her head trying to hide her smile.

"Hey, Maura." Nina cleared her throat and asked "Everything okay?"

"Yes…" the blonde glanced over at her friend's tone before quickly looking away again, "Kenya is warming up in room A along with Leonardo," she said pointedly to Jane.

Nodding her head Nina crossed her arms. "Well. I'll go check on her then." Intentionally bumping against Maura (a silent we'll talk later) Nina left to see her daughter before her audition and left Jane and Maura alone in the hallway.

They both stood looking in different directions for a moment before Maura turned to Jane. "Do you want to…" she gestured for Jane to follow her.

"Yeah. Sure," the brunette rushed out in a single breath as she glided one hand through her hair and followed. Jane walked behind her trying to keep her eyes off of the dancer's hips and before she knew it she was in what she could only presume was Maura's office. It was probably twice the size of her bedroom and the walls were painted in warm colors with two couches against the walls.

"Would you like something to drink?" Maura asked already making her way over to the most elegant non-collegiate looking mini fridge she'd ever seen.

"Water would be great, thanks."

After Maura grabbed two bottles she made her way back over to a heavy looking oak desk at the back of the room. Following Maura's lead Jane took a seat in the plush chair on the opposite side of the desk. She lend over to grab the water and her hand cuffs clanked loudly against each other. As Maura began riffling through papers on her desk, Jane peered behind her at the wall. There was a degree displayed in the middle of other smaller certificate.

_Boston Cambridge University_

_Masters of Performing Art_

_Doctor Maura Isles_

"BCU, huh? I didn't know you could be a master of dance." Maura followed Jane's gaze to the degree behind her and shrugged her shoulders, her eyes darting quickly away.

"It was Mother's idea." The way she said it caught Jane's attention. Her tone was not one of glee like someone who had earned a degree and proudly placed it on the wall. No it was somber and truthfully kind of aggravated. So, she let it go. "Okay, so I have an idea!" she exclaimed, suddenly brightening up.

"Okay!" Jane mocked her joy back causing Maura to roll her eyes and tilt her head.

"I want Leo here as much as possible. He should be in the boys group and the mixed group but I also want to give him private lessons. That would mean rehearsals five days a week, but I think he can handle it."

"But can my wallet-"

"I'm getting to that." She said cryptically pulling out a piece of paper from a manila envelope and sliding it across her desk to Jane.

"What's this?" Jane wondered already reading the paper. About halfway through the page she suddenly stopped and her mouth gaped open soundlessly. Snapping it closed she tightened her jaw. "A scholarship?" she asked her voice cracking over the word. "Maura…this is a scholarship for five thousand dollars."

"I know it's only enough for the first three months, but don't worry. We'll be able to renew it when the time comes for that." She said smiling widely with her hands clasped together. She was practically vibrating.

Jane was looking at the woman like she had grown a second head. That was over four hundred bucks a week! And Maura was just _giving_ it to her. For nothing in return. "Maura. I can't let you give me this money. I-"

"Yes, you can." Maura said haughtily. "Leonardo is a dancer who has met the standards of the IDC Promising Student Scholarship."

"Uh huh. And how long has this scholarship been awarded to dancers?"

The blonde woman looked down mindlessly adjusting something on her desk. "Just this year. But that doesn't matter." When Jane looked as if she was thinking of rejecting the offer again, Maura stood and walked up to her on the other side of the desk. "Please," she whispered sitting on the edge of her desk effectively silencing Jane. "It's a scholarship. Your son is extraordinary, Jane. He needs to be here."

The officer looked up into Maura's face and searched. She knew deep down that this was meant to be. Maura really wanted to take her son under her wing and the sincerity in her voice left no room for thinking that her intentions were even slightly malicious. So swallowing her pride (which was as big as a fucking cow) Jane reached for the pen on Maura's desk. She scooted forward in her chair to place the paper down on the hard surface and signed her name as Leonardo Rizzoli's legal guardian; accepting the scholarship on his behalf.

But even as Maura rejoiced placing her hand on Jane's shoulder and squeezing for a moment before moving back to her desk chair, Jane was already thinking of ways to repay the doctor every penny.

"And I know what you're thinking."

Jane looked up from the paper and tried to hide her smirk. "Oh you do?" Maura meekly bobbed her head up and down making Jane chuckle. "Okay. What am I thinking?"

"You're thinking of ways to pay me back." When Jane didn't disagree she internally congratulated herself reaching down into her bottom drawer. She pulled out a black t-shirt with white blocked letters that said SECURITY on the front and back. "You could work here!"

Jane sat. Her eyes drifted from the shirt to the hopeful blonde and back to the shirt. In all honesty her first instinct was to say no. Hell no. But then she thought about it. It probably wouldn't balance out but at least she'd be actively doing something other than just sending her kid to one of the best dance studios in the world for free. Her normal patrol was from six in the morning to two in the afternoon and the studio was only open from three in the evening until eight at night. This could work.

"You've thought a lot about this in the past," Jane glanced down at her watch, "fifteen hours." Watching as Maura's dimples deepened Jane shook her head. "You really want me to be your security guard?"

"Yes," she said eagerly. "It would be so nice having you around-" the blonde's eyes got big at the words that flowed out of her mouth making Jane smile at the slight blush on the woman's cheeks. "Just because…um…we have a lot of valuable equipment here. Not to mention some of the parents can get a little testy around competition time."

"Right," Jane joked.

"Dance moms can get very irritable…the dads too actually. Just last week we had an altercation with two moms who argued over which of them was the better dancer in their day." Jane simply grinned at Maura incredulously. "So you see. We need someone around. You're an officer." Maura glanced down to the gun and badge on Jane's waist. "Plus you're medically trained and sometimes the students get sick."

Jane thought on that for a second before looking into Maura's eyes. "So you want me to be your doctor too?"

"No that's," Maura paused a little hitch in her breath as she looked up at Jane's deep tone. "That's not what I meant at all. I just figured that if you came here during the day, then…that could supplement Leo's training expenses."

Nodding her head the brunette considered the woman across from her. Then, she got up out of her chair to walk over to her and stuck out her hand. "Then, you've got yourself a deal. But I'm not wearing that shirt." Also, standing, Maura responded in the like, shaking her hand and holding it. The air felt like it was seeping out of the room with every second that they stayed in that position. Hands encased in one another's, standing close enough to smell each other's shampoo and eyes roaming over one another's expressions. Only when a knock came from the door did Maura move back tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and slightly bumping into her office chair.

"That's my cue." She whispered.

Jane licked her lips and without another word they both moved to exit the office. The officer turned to head back toward the lobby and Maura turned toward the audition room when Jane called out her name. Turning around Maura bit her lip and her heart swelled at the soft vulnerable look on the woman's face.

"Thank you," Jane said. She had never meant that word more sincerely than she did now. What Maura was giving her son was something she couldn't even imagine and for her to be so gracious about it reminded Jane that there are more than just self-absorbed people in the world.

"Thank _you._ " Maura replied before walking off down the hallway.

* * *

Leo stood high on his tiptoes before rocking back on his heels. A nervous habit. He had stretched for nearly half an hour before going over his routine again; the music programmed in his head. This was a piece he had never showed anyone and until recently only thought about in his head. Though it wasn't exactly classical ballet, it was his favorite movements all flowing through one of his favorite orchestral pieces.

They called his name and led him to a room that was smaller than the other practice rooms at the studio. There were no mirrors and he could tell that the floor had been cleaned in the last hour. At the very back of the room, there was a table that sat two people. One was a man with short dark blonde hair and a beard to match. He was wearing a suit and in front of him was a pen and paper. Next to him was Dr. Isles. The easy smile on her face immediately relaxed him and he gave a short awkward wave.

"Whenever you're ready." She said softly. Taking one more meditative breath he looked over to Kenya's mom and nodded for her to start his track. As the beginning melody of O Fortuna drifted through the acoustic room, he thought about his mom and what she had told him in the car before they arrived. _You can do this Lee. Give it all you got._ So, he did.

At the end, Leo stood from the ground pulling his shorts back down around his thighs. Dancing was so freeing for him. Sometimes it was hard to express how he felt but with dance…it just all seemed to burst out of him. His chest heaved and he took a moment before opening his eyes. He first looked to the man who had his mouth hanging open and whose pen had somehow ended up on the floor. Then he looked over to Dr. Isles. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth and after a moment, she slowly raised her hand to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

Smiling dazzlingly at him she raised her chin and opened and closed her mouth several times before saying, "Leonardo Rizzoli…welcome to the IDC."


	3. Chapter 3

"So let me get this straight," Nina padded from one side of the office to another. It was almost time for the studio to open at the beginning of the week and instead of making sure the audio systems in all of the rooms were working she was in her best friend's office trying to comprehend her logic. "You gave him a scholarship that covers all fees including competitions," she paused looking at the blonde who sat behind her desk looking on pensively. "Then you gave Jane a job working security here to pay off the scholarship you gave him?"

Maura watched as the other woman came to a stop right in front of her with one hand on her hip and both eyebrows raised. "Yes," she nodded. "Although…I do understand your implication that it makes no sense for someone to work off a scholarship, but you don't know her and-"

"And you do?" Nina cut her off with her chin tilted mockingly down and a smile threatening on her lips.

Maura's eyes grew wide and she blushed from her forehead all the way down to her chest. She shrugged her shoulders and explained in a very high voice, "Well, no, but…I'm telling you. From what I've observed she has a lot of pride and I was trying to make her feel …" she trailed off not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Maura, you've known her for less than twenty-four hours, collectively," Nina laughed gesturing with one of her hands. "Seriously, there has to be a reason why you're being this generous to her."

The dancer thought for a second. There was a reason. There were a multitude of reasons really, but the most important one was, "Leonardo," she breathed out.

Sitting down in her seat, Nina crossed her legs and smiled. The genuine emotion on her friend's face and in her voice expressed her honesty. The reason Leo was in the studio was because he was good enough to be there. He was a very talented young man. _And also smart and funny and cute_ or so her daughter Kenya had said on the long ride home after the auditions. She could tell that Maura saw something in the boy that made him stand out to her in a way that convinced her to do everything in her power to make sure he got the best training this side of the globe could offer him. So, she decided to let it go…but not without one more push.

"So, it has nothing to do with the fact that his mother looks like a model and you nearly fell on your graceful face in front of her the other day?"

Maura's jaw slacked and she feigned shocked and horrified for a second, her smirk peeking behind the mask. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Mhmm," Nina tilted her head as she stood. "I'm gonna go check the rooms." She said laughing and shaking her head. When she made it to the door she checked her watch. "Fifteen minutes till show time."

Maura thanked her, picking up her hair tie and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. The woman at the door did a double take before clearing her throat to get her friend's attention. "Maur. Maybe you should," She gestured taking the hair tie out and letting her hair flow down. Rising up in her seat a little, the blonde quickly reached up to her hair pulling it loose and fluffing it out here and there so that it flowed out nicely over her shoulders. Looking expectantly up at Nina she waited until the woman gave her a thumbs up before smiling. "Still don't know what I'm talking about, huh?"

Smiling bashfully, Maura looked away and whispered, "Not a clue."

Watching her son disappear into the locker rooms with a 'love ya' over his shoulder Jane continued down the corridor to where she knew Maura's office was. As she got closer she could feel her nerves building higher and began rubbing her hands together out of habit. She wasn't sure where the anxiety was coming from. Was it starting this new job, or her son's first official day as an IDC dancer or was it seeing Maura again? She'd had her fair share of coffee since her patrol started that morning so that may have contributed to the somewhat queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Since Maura asked her to work security at the studio she'd been riffling with herself as to whether it had been a good idea to accept. Really it wasn't like this would balance out and Jane couldn't even imagine how boring it would be. How much trouble could these parents be? But none the less she had already given her word. Being this close to Leo and being able to check in on him whenever she wanted, sweetened the deal also.

And then there was the little situation named Dr. Maura Isles. The first time they met in the school's auditorium, she didn't know what to make of her stumbling and mumbling. She thought it was endearing yes, but she couldn't overlook one small detail even if she tried…the woman was absolutely gorgeous. Everything from her legs to the way she smelled was perfect and even though there had been an end chair in the auditorium that day something had convinced her to take the seat right next to the stunning woman. She wasn't sure what though. It wasn't like she was looking for a relationship right now; especially when she was so close to making homicide detective.

No. She definitely wasn't looking for love right now, least of all with her son's teacher. Jane couldn't deny the immediate physical attraction they had and made up her mind that that was all there needed to be. No sex. No dates. No love…not now. But Jane had eyes and a pulse and Maura was just…well, Maura. Possibly the sexiest woman she'd ever seen.

Finally reaching said woman's office she ran her hand through her hair before poising it to knock. Before her knuckles could reach the dark, heavy oak of the door it was suddenly pulled open and Jane's eyes snapped up as the wind from opening the door so rapidly wafted through Maura's hair. The soft light from her office soaked into her skin making her glow and her easy smile and hazel eyes made her look dazzling. _Oh shit_ , Jane thought as she swallowed, placing her hand slowly back down by her side.

"Hi, come in. You're right on time." As Jane followed Maura into her office, she couldn't help but let her eyes travel down the woman's body. She wore a loose fitting tank top that fell off one of her shoulders and a pair of black leggings that made Jane's jaw clench and her breathing shallow out. Maura turned around abruptly causing Jane to jerk her head up to the woman who was laughing and staring at her.

"Huh?" she murmured wondering if she had missed something.

Shaking her head Maura looked up to the woman's face and said, "I like your shirt."

"Yeah?" Jane looked down and grinned at the black shirt that just said SECURITAY on the front of it. "When I was in the academy I had a little moonlighting bouncer job at a club downtown."

"Which one?" she asked still giggling.

"Merch." The smile on Maura's face shifted but did not fall. She nodded her head leaning away from the front of her desk where she was perched, to go around to her office chair. "I, um," Jane pushed pass the awkward silence and cleared her throat, "thought some of the kids would get a kick out of it and I also felt bad for calling your shirt stupid."

"You didn't call my shirt stupid."

"Hm," Jane hummed smirking. "I did. In my head." She said tapping her forehead. Maura opened her mouth in shock and amusement but decided not to comment.

"Have a seat," she gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk.

Jane did as she was told rolling her shoulders and setting her knees far apart. She'd also donned her black slacks and boots from the back of her closet and her kit belt sat heavy on her hips. She'd taken most of her equipment out of it with the exception of her gun, pepper spray, taser, badge and cuffs. The officer was sure she wouldn't be using any of them here and spoke up before she could forget. "I was going to keep my spray and taser and stuff, but I was wondering if there was a secure place I could put my gun. I mean I don't want to frighten any of the kiddos and I hardly think I'll have to use it."

"Oh!" Maura quickly glanced down at the gun before looking back at Jane. "There's a safe in the closet. You're welcome to use it any time you want. The code is 1854. Here let me write it down in case you-"

"I got it." Jane simply said.

"Are you sure, because I can just-"

"No really," Jane said laughing. "Memory training at the academy…plus its four numbers, Maura."

The dancer smiled in embarrassment and looked away from Jane who leveled her with a stare. "Well," she whispered. "I was thinking that while you were here, you can just sort of do walk throughs around the building. Your duties aren't really that rigorous, but I would like you to check in on my office and the lounge where the parents are once in a while. Oh, and if you ever need a break you can just take one." She shifted a little clumsily in her seat. She'd thought that she would have more to say about how she wanted Jane to conduct her job but the woman's confidence always threw her for a loop. "So," she said standing having glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'll have one of the instructors show you around and then I guess you can start your shift. I would do it myself but I have to get to my first class."

"With Leo?" Jane asked walking into the closet to put her gun in the safe as if she had been doing it for years.

"Um, no actually. He has mixed group sessions today. His private lessons with me are on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I also teach his boys group sessions Wednesdays and Fridays. So Mondays he'll be with a different instructor…" Maura trailed off as she looked behind her to see Jane standing at the closet's entrance staring off thoughtfully. Smirking she turned to her crossing her arms one over the other. "Do you need me to print you off a schedule or did your memory training catch all of that?" she asked with her head tilted down, looking up through her lashes.

Snapping out of it, Jane narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. She took a few challenging steps toward Maura stopping a few feet away and paused. She could already tell that this woman was going to be a handful and Jane had to take a moment to think of a response. "Oh, I got it." She said lowly as she reached behind Maura causing the woman's breath to hitch as their shoulder's brushed slightly. When she stood straight again she produced Maura's cellphone that she didn't even notice had buzzed. "You got a text."

Jane smiled politely dropping the phone into the woman's hand and walked around her to the door. When she pulled it open she looked back and said, "Don't worry. I'll show myself around."

Without another word she closed the door and started walking down the hall. When she reached the corner she smoothly slinked around it before pressing her back against the wall and letting her head fall back with a thud. Releasing a long shaky breath she tangled her hand in her hair and bent at the waist. "Holy shit." God that was close. She had to focus on the fact that she was here to do a job and that job did not include seducing her son's instructor. But that was extremely hard when the dancer was looking at her like that or saying things in that tone. Running her hand over her red face she silently congratulated herself for keeping her cool…sort of. "Jesus, Rizzoli. It's day one." She said starting her first walk through of the main building. "Get a grip."

* * *

"Okay, ladies and gents! Take a quick break and we'll run through all that we've learned today, do our cool-down stretches and call it a night." Leo smiled over at his instructor and moved along with the other dancers to the designated break area at the back of the large room. He scooted over to his duffle bag with IDC printed on the front unzipping it to grab his water bottle. Just as he took his first long sip a voice rang out behind him.

"Looking good out there, Rizzoli!"

He laughed and quickly pulled the bottle away to speak. "You too, Kenya." The girl walked closer grabbing her water from her bag that sat next to his. "I'm glad we're partners," He leaned over to her and whispered conspiratorially, "You're the best girl here."

Kenya giggled and turned sitting Indian style facing him. "I don't think so. I mean Aunt Maura _has_ been giving me lessons since I was like two but…" she shrugged cockily.

Leo looked up in confusion. "Aunt Maura?"

The girl gasped and quickly looked around. "Dr. Isles…I meant Dr. Isles."

"Wait," he said his smile starting to break through as he batted her hands away from her face where she'd been trying to hide her embarrassment at the slipup. "You call her Aunt Maura?" He laughed.

"I…" she looked off and scrunched her face as if she was trying to recall something, "don't know what you're talking about."

"Ken!" he shouted playfully.

"Okay," she said laughing. "She's kind of like my aunt. She and Mom knew each other before I was born so I've always had her there. But I'm not supposed to call her that at the studio because we don't want people to think I'm getting special treatment or something." She said rolling her eyes and leaning to the side to stretch her torso. "Which I totally am by the way."

"Really?" Leo inquired with eyebrows raised. "Like what?"

"You know how they tell us we should do our homework during our long break?" Leo nodded his head scooting closer to her, totally enraptured. "Well," she said haughtily. "Sometimes Aunt Maura lets me go in her office to take a nap or get on her computer. And, you know how we're only supposed to take ten minutes in the showers?" she looked up at his face frozen with a blank expression, "Most of the time…I take twelve." Kenya waited for a response with an arrogant look on her face. Finally and quite suddenly, Leo busted out with laughter so loud that he fell onto his back rolling from side to side. Kenya soon followed and they we're both laughing so loudly that their instructor had to repeat that it was time for them to get ready for their last portion of class.

When they both got up wiping tears from their eyes, Leo swung his arm casually over his friend's shoulder and she wrapped her arm around his as far as she could reach. "You're a trip!" He smiled as they both walked to their spots.

"I know." She agreed with a smug hump of her shoulders.

By the time Jane had made her last round through the main building, she was definitely glad she'd decided to wear her boots. Although it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, she knew for a fact that had she warn her dress shoes her feet would be killing her. The studio in its entirety was pretty spacious. Most of it was not open to the public though. The main building was the first on her list to explore. There were four sections consisting of the main lobby with a receptionist's desk, (her and Susie had become fast friends), then off to the right was the guest lobby, a few offices and down the first hallway closest to the back doors was the parent's lounge.

Now that was a piece of work if Jane had ever seen one. It was stacked. There was a mini bar off to the side in the back that was free and only stocked with champagne and a giant bookshelf off to the side with a plethora of reading materials. Across from the bar was a small window that opened into a kitchen were parents could go and order free food to be prepared for them while they waited. All along the walls were big screen TV's. On one side there were a few news outlets airing and on the other side, there were camera video feeds of each dance class being shown as the dancer's practiced. Jane thought that was all but upon going through a glass door with frosted windows in the back she saw that it opened into a small gym with state of the art equipment in it. Jane had whistled lowly and promised to return to the room on one of her breaks next time.

While she did chat with a few parents who were asking about her presence in the studio, Jane quickly explained it to them trying to get a feel for each parent before moving on. Wanting to revisit every nook and cranny of the main building she wanted to make sure she had familiarized herself with the place by making a few sweeps. She'd taken a break earlier to go see Leo when the kids were released for their hour long break, but he'd quickly shooed her away and explained that he wanted to go out in the courtyard with some of his new friends. At the words _new friends_ she beamed at him and let him go.

She left the lounge and walked back down the hallway to Maura's office. She only peeked in to see if the woman had returned there but she was clearly still in her session. Huffing a little in disappointment she continued down that part of the hall where two more offices were. First she walked into the one that had the door open to find it empty. The entire room was a dark blue and it seemed like no one had inhabited it in a while. On her way out she made sure to check the name on the door. _Ian Faulkner._ She'd heard of him. He was supposedly one of the best publicists in Boston which would make sense that he'd be the studio's publicist. From the looks of things, Maura only took the best. When she walked over to the next office she tried to open the door but it was locked. Frowning Jane cupped her hands above her eyes to peak into the office.

"Looking for me?" came a voice from behind her taking her by surprise.

"Nina. Hey, is this you?" she asked pointing at the door. The woman answered in the affirmative and walked over to open the door. Jane smiled and stood at the threshold as she looked around the office. It was smaller than Maura's and about the same size as the publicist's.

"You can come in." Nina joked as she sat at her desk and started furiously tapping at one of the three laptops she had.

"Nice digs." She looked around more now that she was in the door. She heard the woman stop typing to look up and laugh at her.

"Thanks. So how are you liking the job?"

"It's not bad." The brunette sat heavily down on the couch looking at her watch. "Only a few more hours." Nina nodded her head and went back to clicking at her computer.

Curiously Jane perked up a bit. "What exactly do you do here?"

"Oh, just AV stuff. Ya know. Audio…visual…I occasionally help some of the other parents with the dancer's costumes. I'm working on the lights for the girl's group performance right now."

"There's a light show? I thought they just go on stage and dance," Jane said shrugging. She'd never really delved this deep into the world of dance. Sure, she'd taken ballet but that was years ago in some rinky dink studio in Southey.

"They do during competitions, but we do it up for the showcase. And trust me if Maura had her way she'd have the works at comp too."

"She doesn't seem like the kind of person who wouldn't get her way." Jane mumbled to herself, picking at the frill on one of the pillows on the couch. When the silence loomed over them for a long while, including the ceasing of computer keys, Jane looked up to see the tech smirking over at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she said in a sing-song way still looking at Jane. They maintained eye contact for a moment before Jane looked away hiding her smiling. "Can I take a look at what you're working on?" Simply nodding Nina scooted the computer over a little so that Jane could see when she sat next to her.

"This," Nina clicked a button to start the sequencer, "is basically just a blueprinting program. Later I'll plug the coding in but I'm still working on it." As the different colors showed on the black platform that was supposed to be a stage, Jane's brain began to catch up to what she was seeing. "These are the dancers." She said pointing at green dots on the platform moving from one spot to the next.

"Whoa." The lights would flash here and there then slide from one area to the next rhythmically with the music playing from the laptop. She'd never really sat and thought about how much work went into doing this but simply enjoyed it when she would go see Leo dance in his performances at school. "That's so cool." She whispered inching closer to the screen. Just as quickly as it started, it was over and Jane smiled.

"Thanks. It's not finished yet…obviously," Nina scooted the laptop back to her side of the desk. "That's just the first twenty seconds of the routine."

"I think it's pretty awesome." The darker woman nodded her gratitude before opening up her second laptop. "So, who choreographs all the routines?" Jane wondered. If she was going to be here for five hours a day she wanted to know everything about IDC. Well, whatever her son hadn't already gushed about to her.

"Maura does," she replied. "She sometimes lets Caitlyn help her. She was a former student of Maura's and she's really the only instructor she trusts enough to do that. Actually she's teaching the mixed group session that Kenya and Leo are in right now if you wanna go check it out."

Glancing at her watch she realized that it was nearly six thirty and that the classes would be ending soon. "Yeah that's a good idea. See ya." She said on the way to the door.

"Wait, Jane." Looking around she watched as Nina ran over to her closet bringing back a set of keys with her. "Here are the spare keys. Most of the doors lock automatically, but a few of the back doors and offices have to be locked manually."

"Okey dokey." Jane clipped them on to her belt loop.

"I'm glad you're here. It was a little nerve wracking having Maura here all by herself locking up. I was always scared someone would try to break in or something."

Grabbing the handle of the door Jane shook her head. "No need to worry about that anymore. I'll make sure she's safe. …Um…and all of the merchandise too." She added as an afterthought.

Jane walked across the green space or the courtyard as she found out the dancers called it. It was like landscape heaven with all of the plants and a small pond and a few tables scattered around it. When she made it inside the studio where the auditorium and all of the practice rooms were she was a little shocked that she didn't hear any music playing. Each room had solid walls so you couldn't see in unless you walked up to the door to peer in. She looked in all seven of the rooms one by one and finally spotted her son in the second to last one. She saw him sitting on the floor across from Kenya. They both looked pensive until they simultaneously started laughing. It made her heart swell to see him enjoying himself. Her son's usual demeanor was pretty serious unless he was around his uncle's and in the moment she reminded herself that she would do whatever it took to keep him in that headspace. Once the pair got up and fell into place amongst the other's she moved on to the last room at the end of the hall. And there was Maura.

She had her hair tied back and pointe shoes adorned her feet. There were only two dancers with her who both looked much older than her son. At the moment she was standing next to a girl. The student had her hands cupping the other girl's waist and they both stood still rapt into whatever Maura was saying. Pressing a little closer to the door Jane looked on as Maura squatted for a second then thrusted up onto her toes holding even as she continued to speak. She motioned raising her hands in the air before stepping back and counting off. The brunette couldn't hear her and could only guess that Maura had designed all the rooms to be sound proof. Free of any outside distractions.

One of the girls looked around a little worried or frustrated, but Maura simply smiled and pressed her hands together. Squinting her eyes, Jane concentrated on what Maura was saying. _Calm down. You can do it._ Then she started the count over. By the time she got to one, both girls popped up on their toes and the girl in the back suddenly lifted the other into the air twirling slowly with so much control that it took Jane's breath away. She placed her back down on her feet and they both sighed before grinning and looking back at Maura who was clapping and praising them. She walked over placing a hand on each of the girl's shoulders before she dismissed them at the same time other dancers began filing out of the other rooms. When they had cleared the room Jane made her entrance.

"That was impressive." She said startling Maura.

"What was?" she asked pulling her hair out of its ponytail.

"The lift," Jane started walking around the room, "and the two girls dancing together thing."

Smiling Maura asked, "What's the big whoop about two female's dancing together?"

A charming smile graced Jane's face as she stopped walking to look over to Maura who was drinking water out of a purple bottle. "Did you just say what's the big whoop?"

"What's wrong with that expression?" Maura asked confusedly.

"Nothing," Jane laughed walking around the room again gliding her fingers along the ballet barre. "I'm gonna say it all the time now. _What's the big whoop?_ "

Rolling her eyes playfully Maura turned to grab her bag. "Well," she said turning back and shrugging her shoulders, "what is it?"

"I just think its brave and very progressive…pretty tremendous actually," the officer glanced up shyly tucking her lip between her teeth. Maura could feel a warmth spread throughout her body and it for some reason made her nose tingle with the beginning of tears.

"Thank you, Jane." Pursing her lips together in a tight smile Jane nodded her head curtly and started to back toward the door.

"I'm gonna make sure all of the kids have rides and everything so…I'll catch you in your office before you leave."

The instructor reached up to wrap a lock of her hair around her finger. God, why did she act like such a teenager when she was around this woman? "I'll be there."

Without another word, Jane disappeared out the door and around the corner leaving the blonde slightly off balance and wondering how this person could come into her life and make her feel so blissfully disoriented.

* * *

"And Caitlyn was pretty cool too! She's so good with her barre work!"

"I know. That's why I hired her," Maura smiled to herself as the boy rambled on and on about how great his first day was and repeatedly thanked her for the opportunity. He'd even told her about how his grandmother had responded when she heard he got in. All smiles and screams and tears of joy. Now that she was all packed and ready to leave for the night she sat with Leo in her office waiting for Jane. The officer had dropped off her son in the office and grabbed her gun from the safe to do a final sweep of the buildings, locking all of the manual doors as she went along. It wasn't long before they both could hear the long stride clomping of the police officer getting closer and closer until a head of curly dark hair popped up around the corner.

"You guys ready?" They both silently nodded and left the office, Maura turning out the lights. When she went to lock her office door, Jane gently placed her hand over the smaller woman's pulling it away from the knob. "Let me do my job." Her tone made Maura a little light headed as it was teasing and low, the rasp crawling from deep in Jane's chest. She looked up to the taller woman watching her trying to hide her smirk.

"Ma, it was so much fun! And Kenya and I are sticking all of our steps together." As if she was given a burst of energy Jane spun around and gasped loudly.

"You are?!" she bent at her waist and wrapped her arms around his knees and hefted him over her shoulder. He laughed loudly causing Maura to follow suit and duck out of the way of his swinging feet. His mother carried him all the way out of the door like that only stopping when they reached their respective cars parked next to each other. The boy caught his breath and gave his mother a toothy smile. "Say goodnight to Maura."

"Goodnight, Dr. Isles!" He waved at her and she returned it grinning so hard that her cheeks hurt as he stole away into the car. The more time she spent with Leo, the more his personality came out and she realized just how much like his mother he was.

Sighing Jane turned to Maura with a smile. She stood for a moment with her hands shoved into her pockets before backing up and fixing her face something serious, bending to bow at Maura. The blonde giggled giving a short curtsey in response. Jane laughed at how silly they both were. Her son always managed to turn her into an actual five year old, but Maura didn't seem to mind. "Goodnight, Dr. Isles." She said softly already going towards her car.

"Goodnight, officer," Maura said to herself. Although Jane was already in the car before she was, she was comforted by the fact that Jane sat waiting until the blonde got in her vehicle, cranked it and drove off towards her home.


	4. Chapter 4

"Go wide, Marcus!" The boy with bright red hair went bounding toward the rock water fall near the end of the courtyard. Taking a deep breath he catapulted himself in the air grabbing the football and landing on his feet. He paused, not believing that he actually caught the ball. It's not that he wasn't athletic, he just usually didn't play any sport that incorporated a ball very well. His thoughts came to a sudden halt as he felt his feet lifted off the ground. The view around him blurred as the person carrying him spun him in a circle zigging this way and zagging that way. The other kids got farther and farther away from him and once they had gone a great distance he saw the fountain that he had been running to line up with his peripheral vision. Just as they reached the goal line he felt the soft blades of grass under his bare feet and looked up with glee.

"Thanks, Officer Jay! We did it!" Marcus shouted.

"Yeah we did. Oh, wait! Victory dance!" Jane squatted down to his level flapping her arms and wiggling her legs in what could only be described as a cross between the chicken dance and the twist. The red headed little boy cackled and followed suit and the two carried on shouting and rejoicing until the other team members caught up with them.

One of which was Leo who promptly hopped on her back and proclaimed, "You cheated! You cheated, Ma!"

"I did not." She grumbled and fell to the ground as more and more of the kids on her son's team piled on her. "You're Switzerland remember?"

"Yeah, Ms. Rizzoli!" Entered Kenya; hopping on the blame train. "The quarterback isn't allowed to help either team except for throwing the ball."

"Oh!" She exclaimed pulling the girl closer and tickling her sides. "I thought you said we _should_ help!"

It turned out that her son had made quite a few friends in the past few weeks at the IDC and they were all interested in what she did for a living. Usually during the hour long break they would rush out of the practice rooms and grab their lunches in a hurry to scour the building to find her. On most days they just sat around her asking questions. They'd swap jokes with her and on more than one occasion, Jane reluctantly complied with their request of teaching her how to dance. The playing thing was new though. One of the boys in Leo's mixed group remembered how much Jane had taught them about baseball and decided to challenge her to a game of his favorite sport; football.

In the beginning she was a little unsure about spending so much time with the other students. She worried about how her son would react. Would he think she was uncool or would he get jealous of having to share her? But every time the kids came looking for her, he would be leading the pack. Leo was as rambunctious as the rest of them. Hanging with the kids on her break was a great deviant from walking the halls and checking the rooms for four hours every day…but there was one downside. Maura.

She didn't get to see her as much as she wished. She'd see the dancer before rehearsal to check in and lock her gun away and she would walk her out after every day. Their conversations were always light in content but oh so heavy in tension. In those moments all she wanted to do was kiss the woman. The less facetime she got with Maura the more anxiety it gave Jane. She wanted to see her. Sometimes…well most times, she would go all the way down to practice room 8 to peek inside just to watch Maura teach. Whether she was instructing the two girls, or the older kids or giving Leo his private sessions, she was always focused. Her eyes would get this maternal intensity that made Jane not want to look away. Even when the dancer was not in view, Jane couldn't stop thinking about her. Wondering where she was and what she was doing. Actually she was wondering that same thing in this very momen-

"Officer Rizzoli." Her name cracked and echoed around the air like rolling thunder and all of the kids stopped at once. It seemed as if they all turned to her slowly one by one with their round eyes bugged and their mouths circled for the looming chant.

"Oooohhhhhh!" They all released in unison.

"What?" Jane wondered as she stood wiping the dirt off of her pants and turning toward the voice who had said her name with such pointed articulation. "What'd I do?" She questioned aloud.

Marcus grabbed the football near his feet and started to walk away with the mess of other children who were all whispering and rushing away from the scene. "I don't know. But _that_ voice means business." When she scrunched her brows he playfully rolled his eyes. "It means _your feet are lazy_ or _I've already told you twice to wait until count seven_ or…" he sighed at her growing confusion. "It means you're in trouble, Officer Jay."

Jane watched the boy scoot away to be with the others. Swallowing she turned back around to the woman who was waiting patiently standing still with both of her hands on her hips. Her face remained blank when Jane gave a tightlipped smile and a short wave. Shuddering slightly the brunette wiped her hands on her pants and started toward Maura with a whispered curse fresh on her tongue.

"Hey, Maura. What's up?" she asked cautiously testing the waters.

"What do you think you're doing?" The blonde's voice was completely neutral and Jane could tell that she was trying very hard to keep it that way.

"Uhm…dancing. I mean I know I'm terrible at it but I haven't been taught by the best in the world," she joked brushing her shoulder against Maura's.

With every blink, Maura's expression changed from mildly pissed to an annoyed smile that she tried to hide. She hated how it only took one joke to break her serious demeanor. "I could see that," she smarted back. Crossing her arms she tapped her bicep with her pointer finger a few times before letting out a huff of air and turning to walk back in the direction of her office.

Jane waited, rooted to her spot for a moment wondering if her joke had fallen flat and the other woman was genuinely upset with her. By the time the dancer had gotten to the back doorway, she turned around with a smirk on her face. With a jerk of Maura's head, Jane got her answer and she followed behind her into the building.

"Jane…" Maura walked to the front of her desk in her office nonsensically shuffling the papers around. "I'd rather you didn't play with the students while they're on their break."

"Oh. Okay. They just seemed kind of wound up."

"Yes. I know and believe it or not that's how I want them to be. They're at their best when they have that level of energy."

Nodding her head guiltily a bashful smile appeared on Jane's face. "My bad."

"No it's fine. It's just after your little pickup game with them yesterday…" Maura bit her lip, "you're wearing them out."

"Yeah I'm pretty good at that," Jane mumbled to herself. When Maura snorted in a small laugh Jane glanced up at her to see her quickly shift her eyes away and a strong blush start from her collar bone and creep up her neck. "Just cause I'm pretty high energy most of the time. A lot of people tell me that." Maura's attention caught on to the taller woman and a chuckle from the back of her throat emerged as Jane clambered to explain. "Well not _a lot_ of people…just a few. Like four or five? Not that the number matters. I just-"

"Relax, Jane. I know what you're talking about." The dancer interrupted putting her hands up to save the woman from making the hole she'd been digging any deeper.

After a beat of silence Jane shuffled over to the visitor's chair that she had come to claim as her own and sat on the arm of it. She grasped her tool belt between both of her hands and spoke to Maura as she continued to look down at the floor. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

Lifting her head hesitantly Jane looked up into Maura's slightly puzzled gaze. "You _really_ know what I'm talking about?"

The dancer watched on and she could see the battle playing out on Jane's face. For the last few weeks there would be moments like this. Things would go quiet around them with no doubt some kind of ground breaking realization or innuendo hanging in the air. Usually, on Jane's part it would be filled with much more vibrato. Jane and her confident smirk had always been somewhat of a confusing flirt; though she was hands down the best at it that Maura had ever come across. But in the same instance she would seem totally unknowing. Shy even.

Now Maura could see her rifling with the situation. They were both adults. Maura could see what was happening between them and she could also see that Jane knew what was happening between them, but neither woman had the courage to broach the subject. For different reasons of course. But oh how Maura wanted to.

The question that Jane had posed was the closest either one of them had come to actually confronting the blazing attraction between them growing like a brush fire in a drought. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Maura made her choice. "I think I do."

Brown eyes studied every inch of Maura's face. Jane wasn't sure if she was looking for reassurance or a way out. It would be so easy to just say it, but Jane wasn't sure how to or even if it would be the right decision to. Going with her gut had gotten her so far in her career and even in life in general. It hadn't failed her yet.

Nervously worrying her bottom lip Jane stood and moved slowly taking three unsure steps to stand in front of Maura who was perched on the front of her desk, both hands in her lap. She dragged her eyes from the necklace around the dancer's neck that she never took off, up to her chin and skipped her lips to look in to her hazel eyes. Maura could feel her heart speed up at the scrutiny. Her eyes felt heavy. Like there was a scorching weight on them and so swallowing thickly she gave in and finally let them drop to the officer's lips in front of her. She didn't give a second thought as her shaky hand rose to grab on to Jane's hip, fitting snuggly between her cellphone and taser gun.

Jane felt out of her depth and slightly light headed. Her mouth went dry and she let her hips rock forward under the weight of Maura's hand. The woman was looking up at her, waiting for her to make the next move, but Jane's brain was screaming at her. _What are you doing?_ But still the feeling in the pit of her stomach of utter want and magnetic attraction was too much to force down.

And so bending a little at the waist, she reached one hand to cup the side of Maura's face. Jane moved her fingers through the woman's hair applying pressure on her scalp to grasp the base of her neck and watched as her eyes fluttered close. A small puff of air hit her cheek as Maura sighed heavily and the brunette blinked once more before sucking in a deep breath and leaning in all the way letting their lips touch.

Within a second of the kiss Maura was responding, parting her lips a fraction to mold Jane's bottom lip between hers. She furrowed her brow at the sheer heat that she felt course from her face, down her throat and to her chest. It felt like her ears were on fire and she could feel a twinge near her hairline like the beginning of sweat. Jane's other hand rose to the other side of her chin tilting Maura's head up and she opened her mouth a little wider, peeking out her tongue and letting it graze the corner of Jane's mouth.

The officer tried not to think too much…which really wasn't a problem at this point. All she could do was feel; it was like all her other senses were muted. She could only hear the heavy knock of her own heart that felt like it was beating behind her eyes. Her breathing came out harsh as she strictly used her nose to inhale and exhale and all she could smell was Maura.

Pulling back she prepared herself for more but Maura leaned her head away. Jane's eyes opened and when she saw that the other woman was staring at her, she felt a pulse of panic thump in the vein in her neck. Neither one of them said anything and Jane took Maura's silence and wide eyes as regret. Standing straight again Jane took a few steps back and ran her hand through her own hair, across her face and down to grab onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," murmured Jane. "I just thought…you wanted…me to um-," sighing she gave up her explanation to look off for a moment and gather her thoughts.

"I did." When Jane turned back around to her, Maura stood, wobbling a little and stepped forward shyly. Although she had been surprised at how brazen Jane was after weeks of coy flirting, it wasn't at all unwelcomed. Placing both of her hands on Jane's hips and grasping the fabric of the taller woman's shirt between her fingers, she whispered, "I do."

This time Maura leaned in first, and she was sure the resounding _hm_ came from a surprised Jane. Grinning to herself Maura moved to sink her body into the officers. She pressed their legs together and pulled on Jane's shirt trying to get impossibly closer. She could feel the way Jane was trying desperately to hold on to her. A thrill ran down her spine when she felt the other woman suck in her bottom lip biting it and dragging it with her. The pure urgency in Jane's actions spurred her on as she explored every muscle of Jane's upper back with her hands. She pulled them from her shoulders down to her midback all the while giving as good as she got from Jane's tongue.

Feeling herself stumble a bit when Jane grabbed onto both of her arms and pushed her body into Maura's, she braced herself with one hand thrown back onto the desk while the other reached blindly at Jane's hip for something to anchor herself.

"Whoa!" They separated with a loud pop panting with their heads pressed together. Maura strained her eyes to look up at Jane's expression. It shifted from intensity to a shocked grin. Reaching for Maura's hand at her waist Jane chuckled lowly. When she spoke her voice rang out deep and gravelly; aftermaths of the previous moments. "Easy there." Maura looked down to see Jane pulling her frantic clutch away from the woman's taser gun. "That would be one incident report I would not want to explain to my lieutenant."

The dancer smiled coyly and let her hands settle on the taller woman's chest instead. With her eyebrows lifted in curiosity, Maura asked, "Has your voice always been like that?"

"You mean have always sounded like a man? No. Just years and years of drinking."

Shifting her gaze away from Jane's, Maura reached up to fiddle with her black shirt collar. "Well, whatever the reason…I think it's wildly sexy."

"Oh yeah?" At the woman's small nod, Jane could feel herself getting sucked back in and she had absolutely zero control over her head which gradually moved bringing her lips closer and closer to Maura's. She pecked her supple lips once…twice, before pulling back when Maura began to speak.

"Jane…what are we doing."

"Kissing?"

"No, I know that, but what are we doing?"

Maura's eyes were so hopeful. Jane knew what the blonde wanted from her, but this spontaneous make-out session was not really conducive to thinking this out right now and weighing all of her options. If she said that it meant nothing she knew she would hurt Maura and that was the last thing she wanted to do. On the other hand if she told her it _did_ mean something, well, that just wasn't something she was ready for…whether it was the fact that this entire thing could blow up in her face and ruin any future her child had or whether they could turn out to be a horrible match and every interaction between them would be tainted by a cloud of awkward, ' _This is what I didn't want to happen'._

"Why do we have to be anything?" Jane asked. She knew that wasn't an answer and when Maura tilted her head and went to interrupt, the officer continued. "Look, Maura I like you. I think you are a very, _very_ attractive woman, but I'm not sure that this is something we should do. I'm not really in a spot to be in a relationship. I don't think I'm ready for…" she gestured between the two of them.

Maura paused a moment considering her words and the dark hole in her stomach grew larger. None of this is what she had expected to happen. Their flirty back and forth was never meant to evolve into something more, but it did. Jane was still waiting for a response so, Maura simply said, "You turn me on." She continued to smile leaving it at that. Jane herself was having a hard time connecting the thoughts.

"Okay, but. I think you're missing the point here, Doctor."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, it is what I meant but…no Jane. Don't laugh-" Jane continued to laugh even as Maura teasingly batted at her shoulder. "It's true. You turn me on. But the point I was trying to make was just that. Why does it have to be anything more than mutual sexual attraction?"

That got Jane's attention and the smile faded. "You mean…" Giving a coy little shoulder hump, Maura smiled and nodded her head with her eyebrows raised. "Maura that could get messy."

"Only if we let it," she said quickly. Separating herself from Maura's body was step one of thinking straight so Jane took a few steps away putting some space between them. What Maura was suggesting was extremely tempting. The only problem was what would happen when feelings started to evolve…well even more than they already have, and screw up the entire thing. And it wasn't _Maura's_ feelings she was worried about spiraling out of control. Just then the watch on Jane's wrist beeped signaling five minutes until the top of the hour.

Glancing around to Maura still leaning against her desk, Jane gave a tight lipped smile and rubbed her hands nervously together. "You're late for your next session and I need to do walkthroughs," she started toward the door and could see Maura rushing to question her. "But…we'll talk later?"

Looking slightly offended Maura proudly said, "Don't think on it too long, Officer Rizzoli."

Turning around Jane leveled her with a smoldering look that traveled down the dancer's body lingering in certain spots. "…Positive I couldn't even if I tried, Maura."

Maura held her body as still as she could. It seemed now that only one look from Jane could set her violently on the edge. Walking out of the door Jane looked conspiratorially around the hall to make sure no one was near before peeking her head back in. "How did we go from me getting into trouble for playing with the kids to making out and being FWBs?"

Perking up suddenly Maura asked, "s-so does this mean you've thought about it and accepted?"

Smirking, the brunette tapped her finger against her forehead. "Still thinking."

* * *

"She did what?"

"And I kissed her back."

"You did what!"

"Shhh!" Maura rushed over to her office door looking out into the hall way to see if anyone had heard her friend's uncharacteristic yell. Leaning her head back against the door, she closed her eyes and nodded.

"I don't eat lunch with you for one day and you go buck wild."

"We weren't buck wild," Maura argued. "I mean we almost were but…I accidently grabbed her taser gun and she-" she stopped her rant when she saw Nina's jaw drop and her eyes widen in disbelief. Sighing she walked over to take a seat on her couch in the back.

"Tell me everything," said Nina following.

"She was playing a game with the students outside which I knew for a fact was the cause of them being exhausted and unfocused the last few days. So, I tried to be upset with her about it but you've met her so you know that's virtually impossible." Nina raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "I brought her into my office to talk about it. She made some kind of sexual faux pas and I'm not sure. She just kissed me. And then I kissed her."

Maura wondered what was going on in Nina's head. It wasn't like she'd exactly discouraged her from seeing Jane. In fact they'd been talking circles around it too and she was her best friend. Said woman stood with her hands on her hips and a smile stretched across her face. "Maura this is huge!" The dancer groaned grabbing a pillow placing it over her face. "But you don't seem as happy about this as I am."

When she didn't reply, Nina sat next to her best friend and pulled the pillow away. "Maura? What else happened?"

"She said she wasn't ready to be in a relationship with anyone…well with _me_ more specifically," Nina nodded her head for her to continue. "And I freaked out and told her that I was interested in just sex."

"Oh." She understood now. Nina knew that her friend wanted more than just sex from Jane. They ate lunch together every day and it was always _Jane this_ and _Jane that_. But she also saw Jane quite often. She'd stop by her office on her rounds to check on how the spring show was coming along or just chat and Nina had lost count of how many times their conversations drifted to the doctor. "Maura. Jane wants more than that from you."

"I know. I see the way she looks at me I just…I didn't want her to be uncomfortable or feel like I was pressuring her. You know?"

The darker woman agreed letting her hand land on Maura's knee to give it a squeeze. "What are you going to do?" she asked to which Maura simply shrugged her shoulders.

"This isn't something that I've ever done before. I mean I even had to look up what she meant when she called us FWBs."

After a long moment, with a straight face Nina said, "I think you should bump uglies."

"Nina!" Maura burst into laughter slightly jostling her friend's shoulder with her own.

"I mean you're both adults. You know what you want and believe it or not Maura," she made sure to look her in her eyes, " _Jane_ knows what you want. Even if you did say you just wanted to be friends with benefits. I say have a little fun. Everything will work out. It has to. You guys are destined for each other," she pronounced wistfully batting her eyelashes. Shaking her head Maura smiled and let the pillow drop to her friend's lap before laying her head there.

"I sure hope you're right."

"I always am."

A knock on the closed door prompted both women to look up but neither moved from their spots. Maura told the person to come in already knowing who it would be. "Hey, we interrupting anything?" Jane entered the room, kit belt full, with Leo and Kenya following close behind cackling at something on the girl's phone. "FYI," she said pretending to be upset, "I am never taking these two for lock up ever again. They walk too slow and complain that _I'm_ taking too long." Both woman laughed and stood to get their things to leave the studio for the night.

"Hi." Maura said all of a sudden bashful. Jane's blush quickly appeared on her face as the woman stood close to her taking her hair out of its rehearsal bun.

"Hi, Maur."

"Hey, Jane!" She heard from Nina behind her. She turned somewhat jolted by her volume to give a tight lipped smile but stuttered when she saw the expression on her face. Something strange was going on. She looked from Maura who was looking everywhere but at her and then back to the darker woman who was smiling with her eyebrows raised.

"Um…hey. Nina." The kids started to grumble about how tired they were and how it was time to go home so Jane held her tongue and promised to ask Nina what that look was for later.

They all shuffled out of the building and Jane watched as both Nina and Kenya got in their car and drove away. She looked down at her son still stuck on his phone playing a game his friend had told him about. "Hey, bug. Why don't you go ahead and get in the car." He mutely nodded and turned and Jane could see over his shoulder that he was now texting Kenya. When he started to veer to the wrong side of the parking lot she said, "To the left, stink bug."

"Right." He said turning his body that way.

"No left!" she teased.

Her son turned around at her lame joke and his eyebrows screamed _Really?_ "Ma-"

"Alright, alright! Just get in the car." They both laughed as he pulled the door open and hopped in. At this point Maura had already placed her things in her car and stood there waiting for Jane to say goodbye. The taller woman walked over to the car placing her hand on the top of the window, the other in her pocket trapping the smaller woman between herself and the car and backed Maura up until she could feel the door against her back. Careful of possible eyes on them, she restrained from leaning in too far. "So, I thought about _it._ "

"And?"

"I want to…but I also don't want my son getting hurt."

Maura's eyebrows arched slightly. "You don't want _Leonardo_ to get hurt?" she stressed. When the woman didn't say anything Maura tried a different approach. "Jane, the reason why you're here is because your son is a rare talent. Leo isn't going anywhere unless _he_ wants to. You have to believe that I would never do anything to jeopardize my student's future."

"I do. I believe that."

"Good. So, what's the problem?" A smirk appeared on Jane's face as she glanced over her shoulder to see her son laying down in the back seat still engrossed in his phone. Tilting down she quickly hooked one finger on to the sash around Maura's jacket gently bringing her in and kissing her lips. Maura grabbed on to Jane's arm still holding her up against the car. She didn't even realize that she had been missing this since the moment it happened in her office. Jane pulled back only a hair and Maura could feel their lips brushing together as she spoke.

"Not a goddamn thing."

Maura laughed and watched as Jane pulled away. "So, we'll try it out."

All of a sudden Jane's face went serious and she stepped back stretching one arm out and placing the other across her chest. "Maura…Something….Isles. Will you be my FWB?"

"Dorthea." Maura provided giggling out of control.

Clearing her throat Jane dropped her act, hopped around a bit, and then assumed the previous position, starting again. "Maura Dorthea Isles. Will you be my FWB?"

For a second Maura thought about coming clean, but in her heart she knew that it was too soon and could ruin everything between them. So she smiled and decided that patience was something that she prided herself on. "I absolutely will."


	5. Chapter 5

_God. What took me so long? How in the hell did I see her and hold myself away from her this long? I can tell she's thinking the same thing in just the way that she's looking up at me. Every time I wrap my hand around her toned thigh she sighs and lets her head fall back. Her hair is feathered out all around my pillow,loose from its strict practice bun and I can't help but to reach down and run my fingers through it. My lips are drawn to her skin like a cactus to rainwater and I bend down to kiss her bare shoulder. I trace every freckled pattern on her chest with my tongue and a shiver runs down my sides as I feel her fisting my loose hair in her palms; pulling me and pushing me slightly like she's not sure if she wants me to stay exactly where I am or if she wants me to go lower down her body._

_I really can't fathom it…fathom her. How can she be this goddesslike and how can I feel her heart beating in my own chest, and coursing all the way down every vein in my spine. I want to be everywhere on her but still focus on this one spot for hours. The sweat from my forehead smears down her chest as I drag my face between her breasts. When I get to her stomach I take a moment to wrap my arms around her waist and just hold on. How did I get so lucky? I bite the toned skin under her belly button and the resounding exhale that she releases makes my chin quake and my shoulder muscles contract. I kiss lower._

_"Jane." And the way she says my name. With so much gratitude._

"Jane." _And it's absolutely me who should be grateful…humble to be even touching her._

" **Rizzoli!** " Jane jumped and looked down at her hat wobbling in her lap. She stared up scornfully to the person who had knocked it off of her head and he raised his eyebrow expectantly. "You're not even listening to me."

Clearing her throat she picked up her uniform hat and snuggly fit it back on her head with a jerk. "Uh. Yeah, I was."

"What did I just say then?"

She cut her eyes to the side shooting daggers at him. In reality she was giving herself some time to come up with something because she had no clue what he had been talking about. Her mind had drifted off again. Unsurprisingly, her dreams of Maura had  
manifested themselves into daydreams, spilling out in the most inappropriate moments. Like in the squad car with her partner while they were working. But it wasn't something she could control at this point.

Friday night they decided to explore this whole thing. The next day was Saturday and Maura was out of town until Monday, so they went the entire weekend without a single word. In Jane's mind, it was Maura who should and would make the first move. It was  
her idea after all and Jane didn't want to overstep…which caused her to over think…which led to occurrences like this where she would be thinking of the woman and receiving a telling look from her partner.

"Thinking about _Black Swan_ , again?" He asked smiling smugly.

"Stop calling her that."

"Jane, she's a lesbian ballet dancer. What else am I supposed to call her?"

"How about Maura?" she said angrily.

Raising his hands in mock-surrender, her partner looked on apologetically. They sat in silence listening to the hum of the squad car and the static of the radio. Ever since she'd been taking the day shifts she had been reassigned to a new partner. Truthfully,  
she was relieved to have him. They came up together in high school and even though she was his senior he followed her after graduation to the police academy. She was glad to have him on her side. Someone she trusted with her life and whose life she  
would give her own for.

"Look, Jane. I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No," she said shaking her head and looked over to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped on you like that. Just going a little crazy," she chucked circling her finger around the side of her head.

His dark lips parted in a smile causing Jane to roll her eyes foreseeing whatever joke was next. "So would you say you're… _Crazy in Love_?"

"Enough with the references!"

"Alright, alright." They both laughed and when it waned she reached over and shoved his shoulder in jest. He nodded and accepted her silent 'thank you'. Just then a call came on the radio.

"One more for the day, Brother?"

Officer Frost smiled and nodded throwing the car in drive as Jane reached for her radio walkie. "10-4, dispatch. We got this one."

* * *

The tap tap tap of Maura's high healed shoe wasn't enough to distract her, so then came the knee bouncing. She hated to resort to nail biting because she knew that it was extremely unhealthy and would be bad for her teeth. She sat in her desk chair across  
from a parent who was going on and on about her child not having a solo in the impending competition. Maura tried to explain to her that her child just wasn't ready and that it was nothing against her if she had to train a while longer, but the woman  
just would not be appeased.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Maura interjected absentmindedly as the mother talked in circles about how there were better studios she could take her child to that would give her a chance. But there wasn't and both Maura and the woman knew this.

"-and I mean what is it going to take? More money? Is that what you want because my husband can give you-"

"Mrs. Whatley, please." She stopped the exhausted looking woman who seemed on the verge of begging. "Samantha is not ready to compete individually. She is in two of the group piece and I believe that that is all she can handle at the moment. She is a  
phenomenal dancer and when she is ready to move to the next level… trust me, I will take her there. However, that time is not now. Not this competition and probably not this season." Maura took a beat to gage if the parent had finally gotten what  
she was trying to tell her. The mother sat back in her seat with her mouth agape. "Besides," she added, "my tuition and fees are set."

Raising one eyebrow and daintily sitting up to close her purse and gather herself the woman said condescendingly, "For certain people, you mean?"

"No," she titled her head. "For everyone."

"Oh come on, Dr. Isles. The rumor mill is extremely small, in your _exclusive_ studio."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh really?" she asked in mock concern as she rose from the visitors chair and stared down at the blonde. When Maura sat silently the woman smiled with a wicked expression. "What about Jane Rizzoli? We all know what she does for a living and there is  
no possible way she can afford to be here."

Quarter parts appalled, shocked, nervous, and angry, Maura unconsciously clenched her fists as her mouth fell open. "Mrs. Whatley….how…that is-"

"None of your damn business."

Both women turned to look at the office door where Jane was standing. Neither one had seen her walk up and Maura's heart sped up at the sight. The pulsed scuff of Jane's work boots permeated the thick air as she walked completely in the office with her  
eyes solely zeroed in on Mrs. Whatley. The woman smiled sweetly, but Jane wasn't fooled by it. Taking a few unsteady steps around the officer, Mrs. Whately carelessly shrugged her shoulders.

"Look, I don't care what you do," she said to Jane, then turned to address Maura. "As long as my child gets a solo."

"She will." Maura snapped back. "In time." She didn't take too kindly to threats even if they weren't direct ones and even if she wasn't completely confident. With one last look at the two, Mrs. Whatley turned away and strutted out the door.

When the swishing sound of her designer jeans dissipated down the hall, Jane looked over to Maura. "Wow." She closed the door. "What's her problem?"

Peering down at her desk, Maura answered, "She's upset that her child wasn't given a solo for the competition."

Scratching her head, Jane thought hard. "Whately so…you mean Sammie?"

"Right."

"Sammie's like seven years old."

"Right again." Maura smiled understandingly.

Jane could tell that the dancer was still worried about what had just happened. She hadn't heard most of the conversation but she caught the part where everyone apparently knew that there had been an agreement worked out for compensating Leo's lessons.  
She walked over to the desk and sat with her elbows on her knees in the previously occupied chair. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Snapping her attention up, Maura was surprised by the concerned tone. "Oh. Yes…yes. Of course. I'm fine," she said giving her a reassuring smile. The way the brunette was looking at her caused her mind to suddenly calm. Her eyebrows were lowered and the  
intense eye contact hit Maura square in the chest. Getting up from her chair she walked over to sit in the other visitors chair adjacent to Jane. The brunette never took her eyes off of her as she leaned in and without an explanation kissed her.

 _This is it_ , Jane thought to herself. The moment where they shifted from merely formulating a plan to putting said plan in action. She sat up slightly in her chair to place both of her hands on Maura's knees squeezing gently. The dancer took a  
deep breath, titled her head and extended the kiss. She'd been waiting to see Jane all weekend and she couldn't even lie to herself that she'd missed her. The way they joked together, and the way Jane looked at her and spoke to her. She wasn't like  
some of these parents who treated her like means to an end and she wasn't like her students who did anything to please her.

The only word that came to mind for the way Jane treated her was kind; utter carefulness in the way she interacted with her…and kissed her. She could feel her long fingers steadily rising on her lap all the way up to her hips. Jane faintly tugged on her  
bottom lip.

"Mm," she moaned pulling away and placing her hands on the officer's shoulders. "I think that you should come over to my house this week."

She could feel Jane smile against the side of her mouth and leaned down to press their foreheads together. "I thought you'd never ask." A burst of air hit her chin as Maura laughed and Jane kissed the cute dimple on her left cheek. Kissing Maura was addicting.  
She trailed her wet lips down the path of her neck and peaked her tongue out to graze the top of her shoulder.

"Jane." Letting her hands slide down the side of Jane's dress blues, Maura leaned in allowing more room for the woman's roaming tongue. When she felt teeth starting to bite a course toward the back of her neck, Maura clenched her eyes shut. "Tonight.  
I'd like for you to come over tonight."

Gradually, Jane ceased her kisses. She grabbed on to Maura's waist and let her head fall to the crook of her neck, just resting her head there. "I can't," she mumbled. With a small tug from Maura, the officer slowly reared back to make eye contact. "Leo  
is…he…I can't."

With an sympathetic nod Maura wondered, "How are we going to do this?"

"Well," Jane teased. "We do have your hour breaks."

"Yes, but that's when parents like to inquire about their children and I take business calls and answer emails and…" she trailed off.

"What about tomorrow night? Leo's staying the night with his grandma."

It took about two seconds flat for Maura to agree. "So, you can come over and we could…" At that moment, Jane burst into laughter at Maura. Her little shoulders shimmied and her smile lit up her entire face, blushing from her neck all the way up her cheeks.  
"You're laughing at me."

"No, it's nothing." Jane brushed a piece of the dancer's hair out of her face and tucked it neatly behind her ear. "You're just adorable is all." Well, this only made Maura's complexion redden and she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. She was so  
beautiful like this. "Beautiful." Jane caught herself in this thought and quickly stood. "Should I bring…um…wine or something?"

"Only if you have preference." Maura noticed the shift in demeanor but chose not to address it as she observed Jane putting her gun away in the safe.

"Okay." The room was silent for a long moment. "I forgot my change of clothes so I hope you don't mind the uniform."

"Of course not. You look," she let her eyes travel down from Jane's name tag to her kit belt. _Amazing. Sexy. Strong._ Hazel eyes dipped lower. _Sexy. Intense. Sexy._ "Great," she finished.

"Thanks." The officer smirked and walk backwards toward the door, keeping her eyes on Maura to do her own once over of the deep green dress that adorned her body. "You too."

Assessing herself, Maura gasped before looking over to the clock on her wall. "Rehearsal's about to start. I need to get out of this dress." A loud snort came from Jane and she looked up to see her with one hand over her mouth and one on the door barely  
holding in her laughter. "What?"

Raising her eyebrows Jane said, "I can help you get out of that dress."

Catching on to the quip, Maura shooed Jane with her hand, and laughed. "Go."

"I'm just saying it looks a little tight-"

"Go!" She said giggling. With a low whistle, Jane winked and took her leave to begin her first walk-throughs of the week.

* * *

"Nona!"

"Hey, my little nugget! How was dance class?"

"It was great!" Leo accepted a big smack on the cheek from his grandmother before she stepped aside and let him enter her home. Angela stood up and patted her daughter on the shoulder as she dragged her feet through the front door.

"Hey, Ma."

"Hi, sweetie," she cooed kindly giving her a kiss on the cheek as well. "Come and sit. You look tired."

Angela ushered her daughter over to the kitchen table where Leo had already sat down with a full plate of lasagna and green beans and went to town. Jane watched with mild disgust. "You know you're meant to chew the food not inhale it."

"Oh, hush," the older Rizzoli said from the counter where she was preparing her daughter a plate. "He's a growing boy. He needs the calories."

"Yeah but I don't think he needs to choke to death in the process."

Leo shrugged his shoulders. "Nona always says food is fuel, grab it and go."

Angela laughed loudly walking over to place a glass of water in front of him. "That's right, Lee." Jane rolled her eyes at both of them and unbuttoned her uniform shirt, placing it on the empty chair beside her. "Eat up. Both of you. There's plenty."

The officer thanked her mother as a large plate was sat in front of her and though she'd admonished her son only moments ago, she started shoveling food in her own face. "S'good, Ma."

Angela took a bit to observe her two house guests. The pair was so much alike that it wasn't even funny. It felt good to have them both there for dinner. Often times Jane would leave Leo at her mother's house to work the grave yard shift and would opt  
to eating there instead of something from a fast-food restaurant. But now that she had this new security job, there was no reason for the boy to stay overnight with his grandmother. Angela hated not being able to see them every night but was relieved  
that her daughter wasn't working so late when all the freaks came out.

"Here," she said handing a paper towel to Jane to wipe her covered mouth. "So, how are you doing?"

Still zoned in on her food Jane tilted her head back and forth and swallowed. "Good. I mean tired, but…good. There's a competition coming up and guess who has a solo."

"Me!" the boy shouted narrowly missing his glass with his swinging elbow. "Dr. Isles says she usually doesn't give first year students a solo, but I was doing really well."

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" she congratulated the boy, then quickly returning her focus back to her daughter. Jane was really good at changing the subject when she wanted to. "That's really good. How are _you_?"

Jane rolled her eyes and put her fork down. "I told you."

"You're sure you're not spreading yourself too thin. I mean between your patrolling and then going straight to work at the studio-"

"It's not like I'm pulling a double. Just walking around…checking a few rooms…"

"Talking to Dr. Isles a lot." Jane's eyes darted across the small table to her son who was grinning down at his plate.

"Um…what's that supposed to mean?" She questioned.

"Oh, nothing."

"There was a tone, Leonardo," she said cautiously.

"Nuh-uh. It's just…I'm not five, ma." When she raised her eyebrow to say _and_ he cleared his throat and began to sing off pitch. " _I can see what's happening._ "

"What?" said Angela.

" _And they don't have a clue._ "

"Who?" asked the monarch completely unaware of the trap she was playing in to.

" _They'll fall in lo-_ " Leo, burst out giggling as a piece of bread was hurled at his head interrupting his song.

Jane cleared her throat. _What the hell?_ She felt her whole body tense up at her son's revelation. Sure the kid was inquisitive but how in the hell did he catch on so quickly. She and Maura had barely spent much time with him in the same room. Surely  
she hadn't said something suggestive in front of him…or was he just bluffing. "Is Frankie coming over?"

Her attempt to distract her mother was successful. "Oh, no!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "He's out on a date with an officer he met who came to speak with the recruits at the academy. Riley Coop I think her name was. Do you know her?"

"Officer Riley Cooper? Yeah, she works in the drug unit."

"Drugs?" Angela asked outraged.

Smirking, Jane mumbled, "She _works_ there, Ma. Doesn't mean she's a drug _dealer_."

By the time they were finished with their late dinner, Leo was wiped out. His mother led him to the door by his shoulders, careful not to let him walk into anything. When he was far enough down the pathway leading to the car, Jane turned back to her mother.

"Thanks for dinner."

"Of course, sweetheart." The brunette stood with her uniform shirt slung over one shoulder and nervously shuffled her feet back and forth. "Janie?"

"Hm?" A look passed over the other woman's features like she knew something was going on with her eldest child. "You're still cool with Leo staying over tomorrow night?"

"Sure. I'm teaching him to make grandma's gnocchi."

"So, I'll drop him off after dance?" Jane asked backing away from the door. She knew if she stayed any longer her mother would soon ask about why she was acting so strange. They agreed on the time and she jumped in the car with her son and was shortly  
on their way home.

Peaking over to her son who was relaxing in his seat with his eyes closed, Jane tried to calculate every possible outcome. Should she see how much the kid knows and run the risk of further questions if he was just bluffing or should she leave it alone  
and never have the chance to explain and set the record straight? There was no mistaking the implication that her son was expressing earlier and while Jane would rather keep the embarrassment to a minimum she needed to know what was going on in his  
head.

"Bug…Stink Bug, wake up." The boy stirred and looked straight ahead blurry eyed. "Earlier, what was that whole thing about me and Dr. Isles?"

Shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly he answered in a sleepy voice, "I was only kidding, Ma."

"Really?" she squeak in a very un-Jane like voice.

"Yeah, I know you don't have a crush on my dance teacher."

"Shit," Jane cursed just low enough under the lull of the radio so her son wouldn't hear it. Of course he was only kidding. She gave him no sign that she was even slightly interested in Maura romantically. "Yeah, um…I mean no. I don't."

Looking up at her skeptically he said, "That's what I said, Ma."

"I know Bug, I just wanted to… I don't know. Just make sure." Jane was trying her hardest to get this point across: whether it was to her son or herself is where she was stumped. The thought of liking Maura is one that she knew she couldn't even begin  
thinking about, because if she did she'd fall right into it.

" _Okay_ ," Leo laughed at his mother and unbuckled his seatbelt as they pulled up to their apartment building. He got out and didn't dare look back to see his mom who he could sense was still sitting in the car. Racing up the stairs, he dug around  
in his bag for the single key his mother had given him to their apartment. He hurriedly stuck the key in the lock and nearly dropped it when he heard Jane's boots coming up the stairs. Once he was inside, he dashed to his room closing the door quickly.

Jumping onto his bed, Leo smiled before pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts. He opened a new text message and typed lightning fast.

_Ken! You'll never guess what just happened!_

* * *

The day was going smoothly for Maura. She'd gotten up earlier than usual to do some yoga before starting her daily routine. Once she'd found her meditative balance, she got into the shower taking the time to thoroughly wash her smooth hair. _Today is going to be a great day_ she  
decided. Letting her hair air dry she went around her home straightening up which didn't take long considering her house was usually immaculate and that she lived alone so there literally was not much to organize.

Living alone was nothing new to Maura. In her younger days there was just her and her nannies while her mother was off working on her art and her father was in another country completely engulfed in his collegiate instructing. By the time she was old  
enough to know what loneliness was, she was a master in creating emotion in a home that greatly lacked it. And that's when she found dance.

Not knowing how to ask for paid lessons from her parents, she simply enrolled herself in a few classes using the emergency credit card they'd given her. She went every day after homeschool where she felt like she could free her mind…express herself…and  
she was good at it. Unanimously the best in her class. It was a friend of her teachers, a guest instructor from Russia, who was so impressed with her abilities, far beyond those around her or that he'd ever seen at her age that landed her a spot abroad.  
She learned under him and danced in the Bolshoi Ballet Academy when she was only fourteen.

She wasn't sure what hurt more. That her parents hadn't noticed that she'd been taking dance classes in Boston for five years or that they let her travel to Moscow with only an extra credit card and a tortoise to keep her company.

Whatever the cost, that time catapulted her to a career that she honestly didn't foresee when she started doing something that she simply loved and that helped her feel less alone. It brought her awards, recognitions, and later in life, an honorary doctorate  
that her mother insisted she accept from BCU. That's how she'd landed herself back in Boston. Once she was home she thought it was time to settle down a little and start her own studio where she could share her wealth of knowledge and teach younger  
dancers the ways of more than just ballet.

She was happy now; established here in Boston with her students and her beautiful home and her friends and of course Bass, who was now staring at her like she was holding the strawberry in her hand hostage.

Bending down she placed the fruit in front of him amongst the fresh, leafy greens and watched, petting his shell gently as he slowly stretched out his neck to graze on it. She smiled to herself leaving him to his breakfast in favor of getting dressed  
for the rest of the day. Yes, for Maura, today was going to go well…until she opened her dresser drawer.

"Oh, no." It hit her. Today was the day. Today was _the_ day. Jane would be coming over after dance class and she was completely unprepared. She rambled around in her dresser trying to choose the perfect clothing for later. What underwear, what  
dress? Should she wear a dress? She'd have to take another shower once she got home. Should she cook? Did friends who only slept together cook beforehand?

At this point Maura Isles was in full panic mode; hyperventilating included. Today was the day. And she was nervous.

But she wasn't the only one. Long fingers griped on either side of her kit belt; one hand on her cellphone and the other on her gun as Jane made her final walk through of the day. Her shift here at the IDC had been the longest one yet. Not only because  
she he had plans later on in the night but also because she'd had to intervene in an almost fist fight between two dance dads over which of their competition costumes that they'd created had the better stitching. A few solid request from her was enough  
to get them in order and back to their work. She considered whether the day was going slower because she wanted it to or because she actually didn't want it to.

Obviously, she wanted the shift to be over because of the promising things Maura's dress and lips and hands insinuated earlier in the day but she was edgy. She'd never entered in any kind of relationship like this. Not even a single one night stand. She  
had no idea what to expect and what was expected of her.

"Everything's all locked up," she said to Maura and Leo as they both sat in the office.

"Great," was the shaky reply from the blonde as she went about gathering her things.

Her son on the other hand had leapt from the couch where he had been lounging. He was getting more and more comfortable in his teachers presence and Jane figured that that was a good thing. Swiping his gym bag off of the floor he made a bee line for the  
door. "Come on, Ma. Nona and Uncle Frankie are gonna start without me!" She watched him running away toward the car that he didn't have a key to and smirked at the fact that he'd have to wait on her to get into the locked car.

"So," Maura whispered grabbing Jane's hand. "I'll see you in a few?" Jane nodded her head in agreement before leaning down to place a kiss on the dancer's lips. "Mm… and you have my address."

"Yes, Doctor." Jane said as she placed her hand on the small of Maura's back guiding her out of the office to lock it behind them.

The officer sat in the driveway of Maura's Beacon Hill home with her hands wringing the wheel. She took a deep breath and cursed herself. "What the hell are you doing? You're Jane Fucking Rizzoli!" With a resolute nod she got out of the car and walked  
smoothly to the huge door knocking on it confidently. She could do this. Maura was obviously attracted to her for a reason and it wasn't because she was a dud. _It's just sex,_ she thought to herself scoffing at ever being nervous in the first  
place.

She heard a voice from inside telling her to come in and she frowned when the door gave way after she twisted the knob. "That's not really safe," Jane admonished, following the source of low light all the way down the foyer where she came into the open  
living room. Every aspect of the room looked like it had been carefully and meticulously planned out. It all seemed very Maura like.

"Oh," came a voice from around the corner. Jane walked closer into the home and over to the kitchen where she saw Maura's head peeking out from the walk-in pantry. In this moment all of Jane's confidence flew out of the window of her mind as Maura came  
into full view. It wasn't the two glasses of wine in her hands that got her attention. It was the way her makeup was completely gone. And how the dark lighting of the room made her hair glow golden. And how the dancer's practice clothes had been replaced  
by a silk, dark purple robe tied around her body, stopping at the middle of her thighs…it was the way Maura was looking at her.

"I didn't know if I was supposed to wear anything in particular." She walked slowly around the kitchen island, biting her lip, to stand close to Jane.

"So…you just decided not to wear anything at all?"

Maura smiled peacefully and shrugged one of her shoulders, never taking her eyes off of Jane's whose was intently staring at the open space of her robe where her skin peaked out. Then she felt two strong hands cling to her waist and pull her in. She kissed  
Jane back with as much fervor as she could without wasting the glasses of wine in her hands. Jane moaned pulling back and in the next second grasped the glass from Maura's right hand and chugged it down, barely taking the time to see how rich the  
flavor was. When she'd finished it off, she saw Maura smirking. "Thirsty?"

"Sorry. I'm a little nervous and you look…"

When Jane didn't finish her sentence, Maura reached over to the bottle on the counter and refiled the taller woman's empty glass. "It's okay. I've already had some as well." After watching Jane guzzle down half of the second drink, Maura skillfully loosened  
the sash of her robe only a little so that it sagged even further. The two ends scooped, just barely covering her breast and pealing open all the way down to her navel. Okay…so maybe she'd already had more than _one_ drink. "Um," she said lowly  
biting her lip and trying to drag the woman's attention away from her body. "My bedroom is this way," she gestured to a hallway over her shoulder.

When she received a nod from the stunned woman, Maura turned and closed her eyes and took a calming breath before proceeding down the hall. Jane automatically followed and just as she got to the hallway, she turned back around toward the counter.

She placed her head in her hand. "Shit, shit, shit, fuck…okay. Okay, Rizzoli." When she heard Maura call her name from somewhere deep in the house she turned to follow and then suddenly stopped again. "What the hell," Jane through caution to the wind  
as she reached back to the counter grabbing the bottle of wine and took long strides towards the soft music playing in what she could only guess was Maura's bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

He was frozen, street hotdog still poised between his lips. "Are you gonna say anything?" She wondered out loud as she tapped on the door handle of the squad car. The man bit the end of the hotdog in his mouth and began chewing as he looked out the windshield. He swallowed, taking his time to process all of the information she had just relayed to him. Finally, and very suddenly, he let out one loud bark of a laugh causing Jane to look up at him wearily. He glanced at her and shook his head. Officer Frost had a few facial expressions that were immediately detected by his partner. There was untamable excitement.

**_"No fucking way!"_ **

**_"Yes, way."_ **

**_"I can't believe it." Frost stood with his hands on the top of his head. His eyebrows were as high as Jane had ever seen them. She jogged across the BPD parking lot. His infectious laughing catapulted her spirits and she jumped on his back holding on tight as he spun them around in a circle. "I can't believe we got assigned together!"_ **

**_"Well, you better believe it, partner." He dropped her legs and she landed on her feet, the equipment on her waist clinking loudly together._ **

**_With his light brown eyes gleaming and his smile stretched so far across his face that his skin looked ready to break a part, he stuck out his hand for her to shake. "Partner."_ **

Then there was fury.

**_"What the hell did you say?"_ **

**_"Frost!" Jumping in front of Frost to hold him back was something Jane had only done a hand full of times. In their three high school years of knowing each other, she was usually the hothead making her buddy her keeper at times. The peace maker. Not this time._ **

**_"You heard what I said! She's a freak. I don't know why you even hang out with her Barry. She's nothing but a dumb, bull dyke and sooner or later she's gonna steal your girlfriend-"_ **

**_"No!" Jane screamed as Frost broke her hold on him and ran toward the star football player with his fist. The punch landed straight on the boy's nose and he fell to the ground with the sounds of "ohh" from other students drawing the administrators closer to the commotion in the middle of the hallway._ **

**_"You stupid…fucking…dickhead. You…" Frost said as he pounded fist after fist at the boy's body. The brunette scrambled to her knees trying to pry her friend off of the boy._ **

**_"Frost, that's enough!" he turned to her quickly getting to his feet and stared at her._ **

**_"He's wrong, Jane." His chest heaved and his fists stayed as clenched as his tight jaw. Her friend, her brother with fire in his eyes._ **

And of course there was shock.

**_"Just spit it out, Jay."_ **

**_"I'm pregnant."_ **

**_Jane continued to look out over the skyline from atop the roof they sat on and in the corner of her eye she could see his legs cease kicking the edge of the brick apartment building. She felt the harsh wind on her knuckles dissipate and be enveloped by warmth. She looked over just as he was moving his other hand to grab on to hers. His face was blank, eyebrows still drawn and mouth controlled to say something._ **

**_"I don't know what to say." Giving a half chuckle she looked back to the setting sun. "I'm here, though. Okay….I'm here, Jane."_ **

Yes, he'd been there for most of her life events and was never good at keeping his emotions from his face. Even in this moment his face configured into something. But this time, she truly had no idea what he was thinking or what he was going to say.

"I don't believe that for one second."

"I know. But it's the truth."

"No," he said putting the rest of his food away in the bag. "You're fucking with me."

"Frost," she whined looking too embarrassed to be angry.

He looked at her hard for a moment, then the smile on his face diminished. "You're serious," he stated. His partner didn't answer however. She looked down and started picking at her fingernail with her bottom lip slightly poked out. "Okay…," now she could tell he felt bad. Adapting a softer voice he asked, "Tell me again what happened?" She looked over at him. He wasn't being mean or teasing, so taking a deep breath she dived back in to the story again.

* * *

_"How do you want me to-"_

_"Take off your pants."_

_Jane looked into Maura's face. Flush from exertion. She got up stumbling a little from her second glass of wine and struggled with her belt. Maura, sitting up on her elbows watched Jane disrobe. She giggled as Jane hopped around on one foot trying to get the pants from around her ankle. By the time Jane had succeeded in getting her pants off, she looked back to Maura. She was lying back against the pillows with the bottle of wine up to her kiss-swollen lips._

_With her heart beating in her ears, Jane crawled up the bed and placed each knee on either side of the smaller woman's hips. Bending down slowing she separated her lips just a breath. The blonde responded, placing the bottle between Jane's lips._

_She took it in her right grip and sat up on her knees. With her other hand she sloppily tried to unbutton her shirt. Seduction was what she was going for as she drank, straddling Maura, and unbuttoning her shirt mistakenly missing a few of the small buttons. Apparently, she was taking too long because Maura reached up to assist her._

_"Let me help you." But at the same time that Maura sat up, Jane leaned down further into the woman's space. When Maura's forehead bumped the end of the glass bottle it popped from between Jane's lips spilling the amber liquid down her chin and onto her undershirt._

_Jane quickly pulled the bottle back chuckling at the mess she had made and not hearing the gasp that came from her partner as she fell back against the pillows. The brunette wiped the tears out of her eyes from laughing so hard and when her vision had cleared (as much as it could) she looked down to see the woman rubbing a spot on her forehead._

_"Oh, shit!" Jane cursed, still unable to keep her giggling at bay. "Are you okay?" Maura opened her eyes to the woman above her as Jane leaned down to assess her injury._

_She couldn't contain the matching smile that spread across her face. Jane's grin was infectious to anyone who witnessed it. "Yes." She said rolling her eyes, beginning to laugh herself. "Give me this." She said snatching the wine away and taking a swing before handing it back to Jane who finished off the final few gulps. Dropping it over the side of the bed, Jane bypassed the rest of the buttons of her shirt and pulled it and her undershirt over her head in one fell swoop._

_Maura was intoxicated; besides the warmth of the alcohol in her body, she knew there was no way she would be okay with someone dropping wine onto her Egyptian rug no matter how empty the bottle was. Yet, all she could do was raise her hands over Jane's torso, over her shoulders and up to grab the back of the woman's neck._

_"You sure you're okay?" Jane inched down trapping Maura underneath her with both of her hands on either side of the woman's blonde hair._

_Maura laughed in response and pulled on Jane's neck. "Just, come here." She slowly slid her tongue over Jane's jaw and kissed her chin collecting what was left of the spilled wine and when she opened her eyes…the excitement in the officer's gaze had her breath shallow and made her warm from more than just the wine._

* * *

"I can't believe you cracked her in the head with a bottle." Frost said admonishingly as he reached in the bag pulling out his French fries. "You sure know how to charm em, Jay."

"It was an accident! And she said she was okay," She mumbled as an afterthought.

"Yeah, well…you're lucky you didn't lose a couple champers." Jane ran her tongue against the front of her teeth. Now that he'd mentioned it they were a little sore. Bumping her shoulder, he said, "What else happened."

"So, I finally get her robe off. And let me tell you that took forever."

* * *

_Slinging the offending silk to the side, Jane rubbed at her hands. That tiny knot had her joints cramping trying to untie it and Maura had been of no help as she simply sat there running her fingers through dark tendrils of hair._

_"Maura," the brunette panted half annoyed and half amused. "Will you stop that, please?"_

_"But your hair is so long…and your shoulders are so strong and…" her hazy hazel eyes drifted up Jane's body adorned in boxer briefs and nothing else-'when did I take off her bra'._

_"Yeah I know. Youjus noticing this now?" she slurred. Grabbing Maura's hands from her hair she held them tightly down by her sides and started kissing up the woman's bare chest. The body of a dancer was something she began to appreciate more when she met Maura. Her thighs were strong, and her abs where tight. Even though Maura's body was entirely toned, her breast were supple and felt good on the tip of her tongue as she circled one of the women's nipples. She could feel Maura's hands resisting against her grip so she let them go, clumsily falling face first on Maura._

_And of course the woman's hands were in her hair again, this time pressing her closer to her chest. Maura kissed down the top of Jane's head reaching her neck and spurred on by the feeling of Jane sucking her sensitive skin into her mouth, she groaned loudly, latching on to the side of the officer's ear and biting down._

_"Fuck, Maura," Jane growled against her. New found strength had Jane scrambling out of her straddling position on top of Maura to place herself between the dancer's legs. She grabbed on to each side of Maura's ass and thrust up, rocking their hips together hard. Maura threw her head back against the pillow at first impact and lolled her head side to side arching her back so she could feel more of Jane's hips connecting and digging into the place she needed her the most. Wrapping both of her arms around Maura's torso and hollow space under her back,, the brunette held her tightly as she grinded herself over and over yearningly._

_Maura's hands which had made their way down to Jane's shoulders where now grasped tightly in her own hair. She placed both feet flat on the bed, but tightened her thighs around Jane to better match the rolling and rocking of her strong hips until…they weren't moving at all._

* * *

"So like I said I get the damn robe off and…uh…we…" Jane stuttered. How much of this should she tell him? He'd always tell her every detail of his romantic encounters before she'd punch him or throw anything within reach to shut him up about it. She looked over to him and she could tell that he would accept her being explicit, but wouldn't ask for it. "I get the robe off and we start, you know, getting into it."

A slow creeping smile appeared on his face at his partner's discomfort. "Yeah. _It._ I gotcha."

"Shut up!" They laughed as she stole one of his fries. "Pervert," she said under her breath. "It was great, I think but then. I had to pee so we stopped."

"Why didn't you pee before you started?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Okay, first of all, I did. Second, did you miss the part where I had about four glasses of wine within a ten minute span?"

"Okay. Okay," he surrendered with his hands raised.

Jane rolled her eyes. " _Anyway_. So, I tell her I have to pee, which she's not happy about, but eventually shows me the way to the bathroom. I stumble around for like ten minutes with my drunk ass trying to figure out how to flush her fancy toilet before I come back to see her sitting there on the edge of the bed."

* * *

_"Sorrybout that. I, um, couldn't figure out howta flush your damn-" She came around the end of the bed to see Maura flipping something back and forth with her foot. Before she could take a closer look, Maura looked up to her with a serious glint in her eye replacing the aroused one from just a few minutes ago._

_"Have you ever shot anyone?" Jane heard the solid, metallic thump of her gun still attached to her kitbelt on her pants. Looking down at it she picked it up, making sure the safety was on and placed it further away from the bed._

_Turning around to address Maura with her hands on her hips, Jane said, "Um, you want to talk about this now?" Maura stayed silent not even moving an inch. "Fine," Jane huffed blowing a dark lock of hers out of her face. "Yeah, I have. But only if they were armed and were going to hurt my partner or someone else."_

_Scooting back on the bed, the dancer asked, "You've never shot anyone who was just going to harm **you?** "_

_Jane paused and looked around like she'd lost something. The question took her off guard, it being something she'd never given much thought to. Shrugging her shoulders she walked over to Maura crawling on the bed with the woman underneath her. "That doesn't really matter."_

_"You mean your safety doesn't matter."_

_"Mauraa." Jane whined as she let her head drop to the crook of Maura's neck. She could feel the vibration of the woman's laughter and only halfway processed legs locking around her waist to flip her on to her back-after several attempts._

_"Do you think you could teach me how to shoot?" Maura wondered as she kissed her way down Jane's body making sure to lavish the creases between each ab. "I think I'd be good at it."_

_"I think," Jane said drawing up short to catch her breath as the smooth cotton of her underwear was being tugged down her hips slowly. She could feel Maura kissing and biting the skin between her hip bones. She sighed, pleasantly relaxed and her hands found Maura's hair feeling it bob from side to side as she continued to drag her mouth around her outer thighs. "I think you're drunk."_

_The touches stopped only for a moment and then Maura was suddenly back at eye level with a huge smile on her face. "Hmm." Bottom lip snug between her teeth she let her eyes wonder down Jane's chest. "…would you like to know what else I am, Jane?" Taking Jane's left hand into her own, the dancer began to slide the officer's long fingers lower and lower down her body._

* * *

"Huh…she's a strange one. Staring at your gun like that?"

"She was wasted," Jane snorted. "Plus, if you met her-"

Clearing his throat, Frost interrupted her, " _When_ I meet her."

Pausing to glare at him, Jane cleared her throat even louder than he had, " _if_ you met her…you'd see that she's nice and brilliant and smart."

"Uh-huh. We are still talking about your _fuck buddy_ right, not your girlfriend."

It was torture sometimes with him. He could figure her out in half a second; which normally on the job was a tactic that could save their lives but as a friend and in this moment it did nothing but annoy the living hell out of her.

"Do you want to hear the story or not," he nodded his head finishing off his food and throwing it out of the window into the nearby trashcan on the sidewalk. "We're getting into it _again_ but then she stops me cause-"

"You're that bad, huh?"

"Frost!" He laughed hard tumbling into a coughing fit. "See," she said grinning and pointing at him. "That's what you get…and no we stopped because now, _she_ has to pee."

"Oh, man. That must be a chick thing. So now that you've both done your business, what happened next?"

"That's just it. I…I don't remember."

"That's what you said before but I've known Jane Rizzoli to drink every guy in BPD under the table and still remember what the waiters name was."

Laughing Jane shook her head. "That was years ago, Frost. Plus I'd skipped dinner…and lunch too now that I think about it."

"Well did you talk to her about it? I mean to see if you guys actually even had sex?"

Biting the side of her cheek, Jane thought back to that morning. Just four hours ago.

* * *

_Her head was throbbing. Not quite a headache but nevertheless unpleasant. She took stock of her body and cracked her eye open to take in the still-dark room. It was quiet and warm and decidedly not hers. She moved to look at the clock on the end table next to her but felt her arm stuck, clenched between hands and before she glanced over she remembered what happened…well most of it._

_She was at Maura's. Naked in Maura's bed; underneath the covers with the woman clinging to her like a life buoy. As her memory approached the gap of what had happened after Maura had gone to the bathroom, her heart beat sped up. Did we have sex? Was it good? When did we fall asleep? Was she late for work? The last thought turned her head around, eyes straining and neck cracking from the awkward position._

_Jane took a deep relaxing breath as the clock flashed 6:00. Her internal alarm had woken her up in time. The brunette struggled to slide her arm out of Maura's grip where she had it pressed between her breasts. She eased out of the bed careful not to wake the sleeping woman and when she got to her feet she immediately searched for her clothes. First she slipped on her briefs then eased on her pants, stopping when the metal of her kitbelt jangled together. When Maura didn't move she continued to get dressed, opting to stuff her bra in her pants pocket._

_Walking over to the side of the bed where she had just been cozy against Maura's warm body, she watched her. Her breathing was even and her face was concentrated. Leaning down she kissed her and headed for the door stopping at the threshold. Should she leave a note or maybe wake Maura? Glancing down at her nearly dead phone she grunted at the text from Frost asking if she wanted to grab breakfast and one from her mother saying that she was on her way to drop Leo off at school._

_With one last look, she decided against disturbing the woman and walked out of the room finding her keys on the kitchen counter and continued out of the house._

"Wow."

"Yeah."

They both sat quietly, each in their own thought. Jane had been wrestling with herself all morning for not leaving a note and cursing her brain for not being able to produce what happened last night. Frost was right. It wasn't like her to forget after a few drink, but she was so nervous. Maybe she should have stopped after one. Maybe she shouldn't have drank at all.

The buzzing on her hip jerked her to attention and she glanced over to her partner worriedly who looked back at her in the like. It was rare that she got a phone call on her cell, but even more so when she was working. Unclipping it quickly, praying that it wasn't her son's school she answered without looking at the number.

"Rizzoli." Jane's heart stopped as the person on the other end exhaled deeply but didn't say anything more. "Hello?" She said a little more urgently.

"Hi."

"Maura?" Jane whispered causing her partner's vision to snap up and over to her.

"You left this morning."

Jane waited with baited breath for Maura to continue. But she didn't. "I wasn't sure if it would be okay to wake you or not."

"Oh, no! That would have been more than okay." Jane visibly relaxed as the bright tone in Maura's voice drifted over the phone letting her know that she wasn't upset with her. "I wouldn't have minded."

Chucking uneasily Jane joked, "Future reference, then."

Maura laughed on the other end but they became silent. She took a few uneasy, nervous sounding breaths before, "So last night was…"

Jane didn't know what to say. "Yeah, last night was…" She swatted Frost's hands away like a fly as he poked and prodded her, barely keeping his silent laugher in. "It-"

"I understand why you did it." Stopping Frost's hands for good Jane pushed her phone closer to her ear.

"Um…you do?"

"Completely. I mean if I had to patrol all day and then come work at the studio, I know I would be terribly exhausted, too."

And there it is. It hit Jane dead in the chest much like her palm did as she smacked it against her forehead. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a moment and then looked up to her partner. She spoke to Maura but aimed her words at him. "I fell asleep."

Officer Frost's mouth fell open and before his deep bolstering laugh filled the car, Jane snapped her fingers at him and pointed to the car door. _OUT! OUT!_ She mouthed to him. He quickly swung the door open ducking outside of it, simultaneously releasing a huge belly laugh that had every passerby on the street staring at him.

"It's okay, Jane. Really."

"No, it's," covering her other ear with her hand, Jane tried to block out the sound of her partner gasping for air. "Oh, god. I fell asleep."

"Yes." She could now hear amusement in Maura's voice.

"I'm so sorry, Maura. That's never happened to me before. I swear."

So caught up in her revelation she didn't catch the dancers teasing tone when she said, "oh so it's just me? I'm boring."

"What! No! Holy shit, Maura. I am so sorry. It has nothing to do with you. It's me. I'm an idiot and I-"

"Jane!" she said stopping the brunette's rambling. "I was only kidding. I know what you meant."

"You've got to give me another chance."

"Well," Maura sat in her desk in her home office sketching nonsensically on her date book; drawing circle's around Friday's date. "I was calling to see if you'd be interested in coming over again. Sometime soon."

"Absolutely."

"Because…I mean everything up until that point was…"

"Now, I do remember that part," Jane whispered into the speaker as Frost finally settled back down into the driver's seat. "It _was_."

"Hmm," Maura moaned from the other side of the receiver. "So, I'll see you this evening and we can discuss another plan of action?"

"I'll see you when I get off." Jane nodded to herself. "Of work!" she added quickly, following a snort from Frost. "I'll see you when I get off of work."

"Sounds great," Maura chuckled. She was just about to end the call when she heard the other woman call her name out hastily. "Yes?"

"Listen, I didn't…I didn't say anything embarrassing did I? When I was passed out."

Jane held her breath as Maura thought back. She tended to say stupid shit when she was drunk or sleepy and she could only imagine the product of both those things at the same time.

"You," Maura hesitated. Finally, "No. Jane, you didn't say anything embarrassing."

"Oh thank, god." Jane sighed putting her hand on her chest. "Cool. Thanks, Maur." She ended the call. A few seconds to breath and her partner jumped right in.

"You fell asleep?"

_This is dispatch we have a robbery in progress at…_

"Frost. Answer the page."

"Rizzoli. We need to talk about this," he said taking on his best Dr. Frost Ph. D voice.

_All available units respond to the…._

"Frost!" She yelled indignantly pointing at the walkie.

"Oh, come on. We're still on lunch-"

Quickly, Jane reached down to grab the receiver. "10-4 dispatch. Victory 825, responding. En route."

Looking at her through squinted eyes, he threw the car in drive and took off down the street. "Okay, but we're _going_ to talk about this, Mr. Sandman."

"Yeah, yeah." She reached down, flicking on the siren.

Wrapping her hands around her water bottle and then bringing her cold hands up to her neck was helping to ease the very slight hives around the base of her throat. Maura sat thinking back to the conversation she'd just had with the officer. Maybe she should have been completely transparent about what happened last night. But Jane was so eager to try again and she knew that if she'd told her then that would be the end of their relationship.

Sighing, she got up from her desk. It was nearly ten o'clock in the morning and she hadn't done a single thing but stare at her phone with Jane's number pulled up for the better part of an hour. Making her way to her bedroom she started to make the bed up, but sat heavily on the side of it when Jane's words from last night filtered through her mind again, creating a lump in her throat, making her stomach tense and her ears hot.

* * *

_"Whoops!" Maura squealed as she wobbled right into the wall outside the bathroom. Thankfully after years of practice in this house, it didn't take her quite as long to figure out where the mechanism for flushing the toilet was. She took a breath of air threw her nose and walked steadily over to the bed._

_"Okay, I should be good to go. No more interruptions this ti-…Jane?" When she reached the bed she paused. The taller woman had finagled herself underneath the covers, the comforter pulled all the way up to her chin…slow even breaths exiting her open mouth._

_"Jane," Maura tried jostling her shoulder a little but this did nothing. She was asleep. Gone. Completely out. In lala land. Maura shifted from one foot to the next wondering what she was supposed to do. She couldn't wake the woman up and ask her to leave. That would be rude and not to mention the amount of work the officer had been doing lately warranted her current state. She couldn't wake her up and demand sex, either._

_No. She shouldn't wake her at all. She looked too peaceful. Kneeling on the side of the bed closest to Jane she moved her face close so that their noses where almost touching. She tapped Jane's nose with her finger and smiled when the response was a cute little scrunched up face, looking just like Leo when he would get frustrated. She kissed her eye, then her temple and last her lips once before getting up and crawling over Jane to lay on her side of the bed._

_Holding her hair back, Maura lead over and blew out the two candles that were flickering on the nightstand, dousing the room with darkness if not for the subtle stream of moonlight drifting through the curtain. Maura laid on her back at first but quickly turned on her side to face Jane's back; the woman attracted her attention even when she was asleep. Scooting a little further down in the bed she let her fingers glid over the woman's back all the way down in her hip bone. On the way back up she examined every nick and scar on her tanned skin. It was when she went closer to kiss the longer one under her collar bone that Jane sucked in a great deal of air and shifted jerkily onto her back._

_Maura sat observing brown eyes opening to slits and then find their way to her. "Maura," Jane said groggily. "Maura." She reached for the blonde opening and closing her hands like a child asking for something. The dancer moved over, enclosing one of Jane's arms in hers and lacing their fingers together._

_"Yes, Jane?" She asked tucking her head in the dip between Jane's neck and shoulder._

_"Maura." She repeated snuggling closer to the warm body next to her. Maura had thought she'd fallen back to sleep when her breathing had evened out again. Her body instinctively jumped when Jane's deep, gravelly voice sounded again. "I could fall in love with you…I think I could…fall."_

_Maura tried to keep completely still. Jane was asleep. She knew that and she didn't want to break this moment. Whether for her sake or for Jane's she didn't know. Whether her sake was the same as Jane's sake, she was not sure of either. All she knew is that in her heart, she could fall in love, too._


	7. Chapter 7

Leo's tongue had been settled between his pursed lips for the better part of an hour now. His hands were steady, an absolute opposite of his shaky, tired legs and his frustrated brain.

"Here we go, Leo. Four, five and up." With a grunt of effort, he kicked his leg straight up into the air. Just as it began to descend, his teacher reached up and caught it, holding it in place. "Good. Now, what do you see?"

The boy gazed at the mirror in front of him. He saw himself, right leg straight and anchoring him to the ground, left leg raised in the air, his teacher with her hand wrapped around his ankle, holding it where he'd haphazardly thrown it in the air.

"Um…" he wiggled slightly on the heel of his foot trying to hold the position and keep his hands from reaching out for her to steady himself. He analyzed his position closer, as she asked. His right leg was straight, toes pointed directly in front of him but his left leg didn't fair as well. "I see…" He sighed in frustration, shaking his head and bending his knee indicating that he wanted to try again.

His teacher however had different plans and held his leg steadily in place. "Hey," she said, her voice both stern and soft, peaking her head around his shoulder to look at him in the mirror. "You're okay, Leonardo. Just tell me what you see."

He looked at her for a moment and swallowed. "My leg is bent."

"Hm," Maura smiled, though the boy's solemn demeanor didn't catch it. "Four tries ago," she started, her tone relaxed and inflected with compassion. "Your kick landed here," she bent his leg nearly two feet lower toward the ground.

"Really?" he wondered aloud, the frown slowly diminishing.

"Yes. And do you know what I see?" The boy pursed his lips, trying not to match the beaming smile on his teachers face so quickly. " _Progress_ , Leonardo. That is what we call progress."

She released his leg and he smiled, a small laugh squeezing between his gleaming teeth. "Thanks, Dr. Isles."

"Listen," she placed her hands on his shoulders and stood between him and the mirror. "I know it can be difficult to see the achievements that you've make when there is still work to be done."

He shrugged his shoulders and looked down to his pointe shoes. "Yeah, my ma says she does the same thing. Ya know. With trying to get detective."

Maura silently stepped back and straightened her shoulders. Though, she had been working with Leo for the past hour and a half, her thoughts hadn't drifted to Jane once. They were alike in so many ways. Their eyes, always focused with an intense brown. Their frustration as unwavering as their determination. Sometimes they would both make the same gestures, Leo moving his hands around widely when he joked with Kenya in the same way Jane joked with Maura. The dancer lost count of the things she wanted to know about Jane. _What's that one song she will always dance to in the car? How does she compartmentalize the children she sees on the job from her own son? Does she do her Christmas shopping early or late? Had she always wanted to be a cop?_

"How long has she been trying to become a detective?" Maura asked.

"I'm not sure. Um…I think maybe before I was born?"

Maura reached down to the chain on her neck and tugged the charm gently back and forth. It never occurred to her that Jane would be working to rank up. It surprised her more than anything to think that Jane wasn't _already_ a detective. Subconsciously, she knew that the brunette was an officer, but since they never really talked about Jane's work she had nothing to go on. "Wow. That's a long time."

"Yeah, I know."

A knock came just as Maura was about to pose another personal question. She saw one of her instructors peeking through the window, tapping her watch with her hand.

"Thanks, Susie," Maura mouthed. Leo had gone about packing up his things to head back to the locker room when his teacher stopped him.

"Do you know why it has taken so long for your mother to become a detective?"

He looked pensively away from her and Maura's heart tightened at the boy rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "She had me, I think?"

That was something she'd internally inquired about. If Maura were honest, she wanted to know about Leo's father, but didn't want to cross some unspoken line. Did he have a father? Where was he? Did Jane love him? She didn't want to squeeze information from her student.

"You two staying the night?" came an amused voice from the other side of the room.

Leo grinned and looked past Maura to the door. "No, Ma. We just finished." He picked up his bag and headed toward the door.

"Well, not quite," said Maura. The boy turned around and a chuckle slipped between Maura's lips. His face was equal parts hesitantly curious, exhausted and terrified.

"We really are staying the night, aren't we?"

"Cool," Jane said stepping into the room. "What do you think…" she reached into her pocket, pulling out her wallet and thumbing through a few bills. "Bout twenty bucks should cover his dinner, right?" She shuffled closer to Maura, her head pointed down to contain her smirk. She pulled out two ten-dollar bills and handed them to the blonde. "Just make sure he's on time for school in the morning."

"Ma!" Leo whined, playfully swiping the money before his teacher could take it. "Tomorrow's Saturday!"

More and more, Maura noticed the free bursts of laughter that happened when she was in the presence of the Rizzoli duo. Last week she'd nearly spit water everywhere when she and Leo had found his mother snoozing in one of the practice rooms during lunch. He thought that would be the perfect time to scream bloody murder, his pitchy voice vibrating around the room and scaring his mother right out of the window seat.

"You need to stretch before we go." Maura said smiling.

"Oh, right!" The boy dropped his things and handed his water bottle to his mother. Maura covered her smirk with her hand, but stayed silent as the boy covertly snuck the twenty dollars into the waistband of his tights.

Maura's attention perked up at the opportunity and joined the boy on the floor. By now, Leo knew the routine without Maura saying which move was next but said nothing of her deciding to join him. As they went wordlessly through the motions, Maura leisurely rolled her hips forward, straightening her legs into a full split and caught Jane's eyes in the mirror. Her body felt a tad paralyzed by the way she was looking at her. She elongated her back and watched brown eyes twitch down, then back up.

"You can join us if you'd like," Maura said.

"Huh?' Jane responded softly before clearing her throat and rolling her shoulders. "No, that's okay."

"Are you sure?" the dancer asked bending to cuff both hands around her foot. "You seem a little tense, officer."

Suddenly, Jane's focus snapped to Maura's dangerous stare. "I think I'm good, Doctor."

"Hm," Maura hummed looking away quickly and standing. She walked over to where Jane was, grabbing her water bottle and cell phone. "Some other time then?"

"Hey, Ma," Leo interrupted whatever was about to slip off Jane's tongue. She cared deeply about her student, but in that moment, all she wanted was to know what sly thing was going to come from the most infuriatingly attractive woman she'd ever met.

"Yeah, bug," she said smirking and turning her attention to her son.

"I have to talk to Kenya. Meet you in the lobby after building check?'

"Yeah, but make sure you don't get in Kenya's car. That joke is getting really old."

Leo smiled looking down at his phone and heading toward the door. He felt the edge of his shirt stop him and sighed already knowing what was happening. Without a word he reached into the waistband of his pants, pulling out the two ten-dollar bills and dropping them into his mother's hand.

"Mhm," she grunted at him as he disappeared into the hallway. "Now," she took a step closer to the blonde. "What was that about stretching later?"

Maura laughed, shrugging one shoulder. The way the elastic of the leotard top stretched across her chest triggered Jane's bottom lip rolling between her teeth; a sight that invited Maura to take a step closer as well.

"I just noticed that you seemed to be enjoying the view."

"Oh, I absolutely was," Jane whispered. She reached up to slide her finger along Maura's collarbone.

The dancer's eyes darted toward the door as a shade of red blossomed across her chest. "Jane," she warned.

"Uh uh, you started this. Don't back down now, Doctor."

Maura looked up at Jane's tone. Spired on by the challenge on Jane's face and the provocation in her voice, she slowly stood higher to kiss her. Jane leaned in and rocked forward when Maura's hands found their way to her belt, drawing her closer. The amount of charm this woman laid so easily on her made Maura dizzy in the best way. She could feel the officer's firm attention as she squeezed Maura's hip and tugged her bottom lip between her teeth.

"When—Can—when…" Maura giggled separating herself from the verklempt woman.

"How's tonight?"

"Ding, ding, ding," Jane said. "We've got a winner, because Leo is staying the night with his grandmother. I have to drop him off there, but maybe you could come over to mine."

"You mean your apartment?" the blonde wondered pulling back.

"Um," Jane frowned slightly. "Yeah. Is that…a problem?" Maura stayed silent for a moment. Yes, she wanted to see Jane tonight, but she thought that it would always be done at her home, because of Leo. "Maur?"

"Yes. Sorry."

The brunette's stare remained unbelieving, now tented with concern. "I mean, if you really want to go to—"

"No, Jane. Really," she reached up to the taller woman's collar and pulled her forward slightly. "I showed you mine so it's only fair that you show me yours, right?"

The concern on the officer's face melded back into Maura's inviting lips and she smirked, dazingly staring at her. "Damn fucking right, woman." She pecked her lips again, giving the small of her back a promising tug.

* * *

The knock on her window startled her from her thoughts. Lingering thoughts of the same person with their face almost pressed into the glass, leaving warm breath on the window. _You gonna_ _get out_ , came the muffled question.

Maura swallowed and opened the door slowly. The point of her heel gritted against the cracked concrete beneath her feet. "Sorry. Women usually come home with me. Not the other way around," she laughed, a blush creeping up her neck to her ears.

"Oh," Jane said glancing back at her apartment building. Hunching her shoulders, she smirked. "What? Afraid I'm gonna lock you in a dark room and slide food and water under the door every day?" Her smile slid away as she saw Maura's eyes still pointed steadily at the few men loitering around the doorway. Sighing, she lifted her finger to fit under Maura's chin, turning her head a few inches toward her.

"Sorry," Maura whispered smiling bashfully. "I'm not sure why I'm nervous."

"Cause we're about to have sex. Forreal this time."

"Jane," she said rolling her eyes. The brunette's face lightened up.

"Hey, listen," she said. "We don't… _have_ to do this," the officer said, painfully hesitant.

Maura's hand lifted to wrap around Jane's cradling her face. "We kind of do. That's the agreement, right?"

"Fuck that," Jane said leaning closer. "We're not doing anything you're not ready to do. I obviously want you, Maura. Trust me…I'll wait. I mean, if _you_ still want to."

Blood rushed to the dancer's cheek as she watched the office's features. Her eyes were focused, her jaw tight and her clutch unwavering. "Thank you for saying that you'd wait. That's sweet, but…." her eyes darted down to the hand encircling her own. Her eyes drifted to Jane's chin and then to her mouth as her tongue peaked out to wet her lips. "I don't need any time. I'm ready now, Jane." She looked up into her brown eyes waiting expectantly.

A sudden warmth surrounded her and seeped underneath her jacket watching Jane's throat bobbing down, up and down again as she swallowed. "Okay," Jane whispered turning and pulling Maura toward the building. "Okay."

The men payed them no mind as they made their way into the building. Maura heart was beating hard in her chest. For some reason, sex now made her a little nervous. Being this close to Jane, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to let it play out without scaring Jane away. She wanted sex with Jane. There was no denying that, but she wanted more, too; especially after what Jane had said the other night dreamily about being able to fall in love with her. _One step at a time,_ Maura reminded herself as she walked into the officer's apartment.

Jane was hot, almost unbearably so; however, she could hear the soft almost undiscernible hum of the AC running. One eye blinked and squinted open glaring at the light peeking through the curtains.

"Good morning," came the light grumble from beside her.

"Morning," Jane said twisting around onto her back and looking up at the ceiling. There was a moment of silence before the slow ruffle of Maura's hand slipping into hers in the center of the bed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jane answered softly. She smiled and turned her head toward Maura. Lips pouty from just waking up and hair mussed over the pillow. "Are you?"

Maura's face lit up and she slid closer placing a lingering kiss on the officer's lips. "Mhm."

They sat, hands intertwined, Jane rubbing the pad of her thumb over the soft skin of Maura's knuckles. _What now?_ She didn't really know. All she was sure of in this moment was that the woman across from her was the most beautiful being she'd ever seen.

Last night was a different sight. Parted lips, blissfully concentrated eyebrows, crescent fingernail marks and skin everywhere. She'd never expected the dancer to be so achingly responsive. In Jane's mind, Maura was worldly, having traveled and seen so much even from a young age. She thought she would be more experienced. And it wasn't that she was innocent. Far from it, actually. But every touch, kiss, bite, lick and squeeze was appreciated…most times, vocally so. She craved ever single moment of Maura latching onto her for something to keep her steady and to pull her back down again.

In those moments when Jane needed to be grounded, she was almost shy in the way she would grab the blonde's wrist to bring her closer, tangle her hands in her hair to keep her in place.

"Jane?"

"Hm?"

Maura's lips stretched as she smiled bashfully. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Jane asked, a grin creeping over her features. She watched Maura shrug her shoulders and observe her own finger tracing the officer's collarbone to avoid the gaze in question.

"I don't know. Like—" Her back arched as she was pulled closer, feeling Jane's warm skin against her own and shivering at the breath on her skin. Jane molded her nose into the space between Maura's shoulder and neck groaning at the feeling.

"I was just thinking about last night. You're scary good at…you know…that thing."

Maura chuckled bringing her hand up to stroke up and down the officer's back. "Well, thank you. You're frighteningly amazing at that…other thing." They both laughed, Jane pushing herself closer to Maura.

"Thanks," came the mumbled response. She moved her hand down to Maura's hip and reveled in the sensation of the small hand rubbing up and down her back. It was shockingly intimate and she couldn't move. The silence lingered and the realization begged her to pull away and get dressed, but she just couldn't.

Both annoyance and relief dripped down her body when Maura whispered, "we should get up."

Glancing over at the clock tempted her to throw the damn thing across the room. Maura was right, it was time to get up. She had errands to run on her day off including going to her younger brother's first baseball game. It was Tommy's first real job after his release a few months ago and she couldn't miss it. Besides, she was sure Maura had more important business things to do than cuddling with her all day.

"Yeah, you're right." She pulled away quickly making sure to seem nonchalant. She could feel Maura's eyes on her as she picked up some of Maura's clothes scattered across the room. She noticed the woman hadn't moved from the bed yet and after a few silent breathes Jane heard her heave a sigh before sitting up. Finding her robe, she chucked it onto her shoulders and tied the sash. The brunette looked around to make sure she got everything and walked over to the dancer who stood with her eyes cast toward the bathroom.

"You have to use the bathroom?"

"No!" Maura said quickly grabbing her clothes. "Well, yes, but—"

"But last night was actually terrible for you so you're thinking about hopping out the window?" Jane teased moving to sit at the foot of the bed.

"Really, Jane? Sure, let's pretend that you _don't_ know how much I enjoyed _stretching_ with you last night." she said rolling her eyes and putting one hand on her hip.

"So fucking flexible," Jane mumbled to herself, nearly shivering at the thought.

"I was thinking that I could take a shower…before I leave."

"Oh," Jane said standing again. "Yeah, of course."

"Thank you. And would you mind grabbing my purse from the living room. It has my clothes in it," Maura threw over her shoulder, closing the door before Jane responded. She couldn't anyway, too stunned by Maura's naked form walking away.

"You brought extra clothes," she muttered. "That's normal behavior for fuck buddies. Just like cuddling and not wanting to let go of her. Nice job, _Jane_ ," she grumbled all the way out to the living room.

Something was jiggling when she picked up Maura's purse, but it only took half a second before the door opened to realize it wasn't Maura's keys.

"Janie, I hope you're already awake."

"Yeah, Ma, we gotta hurry or the line for the concession stand will be too long!"

When Angela and Leo's eyes wandered upon the officer she was standing straight as a board, eyes wide and Maura's purse hanging from her hand. They all inspected one another for a moment.

"Whose purse is that?" Angela asked closing the door behind her.

Jane looked down to the offending object sharply as if she had forgotten it was there. "Uh, mine?" she looked back up and pursed her lips at their unbelieving stares. _Right, I don't have any purses_. "I mean, it's Maura—Dr. Isles'."

"Why do you have Dr. Isles' purse, Ma?" Leo said, his voice tented with condescension, not caring one bit about subtlety. His eyes darted excitedly around for his teacher to jump out from behind something.

"Well, she just came over this morning so we could, ya know, talk about…uh…security for the show case coming up. Cause I'm the security guard. So…"

"Mhm," Angela nodded suspiciously and walked further into the room.

"You couldn't have done that over the phone, Ma?"

"Or, I don't know, put on some clothes first?" Angela added.

"Um…" Jane tugged at the bottom of her mid-thigh robe. "I just forgot what time she said she'd be over, so I wasn't dressed when she got her. Like, ten minutes ago." Jane smiled uneasily but proudly at her antics.

"So, where is she? I want to meet her."

"Ma, just wait a seco—"

"Janie, is that your shower running?"

"Whoa!" She slid in front of her mother, halting her progress toward her bedroom. "No, it's the sink. She said she had to use the bathroom or put on makeup or somethi—

"What about the hall bathroom," Leo inquired leaning against the back of the couch.

"It's broken," she said nearly cutting him off and cutting him up with her hard stare. "You know what? Why don't you guys stay here and I'll take this to her."

Without a backwards glance, she spun around and headed toward her bedroom, where the shower had stopped running, and locked the door behind her.

"Maura!" she whispered harshly. "Maura, hurry!"

"What is it?" the blonde woman asked coming out of the bathroom, her hair atop her head and towel wrapped around her.

"They're here."

"Who's here," she whispered, matching Jane's tone. The officer's frantic state made Maura's lips twitch slightly with amusement.

"My mother and Leo."

Maura reached over to grab her bag where Jane had sat it on the bed and began rummaging around, pulling out clothes left and right and dropping her towel to hurriedly put them on. "Oh my God."

"Right?!" Jane said going over to her closet and pulling out jeans and a Red Sox t-shirt.

"Why are they here so early?"

"Because, my baby brother just got this job coaching little league and they have their first game today. I mean, the game isn't for a couple hours so—" Jane stumbled over her own foot trying to put her socks on. "I told them you were here to discuss security for the showcase."

"Okay," Maura said taking a deep breath and standing up fully dressed. "Okay. So, I just go out there." She bit her lip as the taller woman finally completed the task of getting into her jeans.

Jane shrugged, giving a frustrated huff to a loc of hair hanging down her forehead. Maura clenched her jaw to keep from smiling. It was hard pretending that this didn't give her the tightness bit of a thrill as she nodded walking toward the door. Right before twisting the lock, she turned and looked over her shoulder. The officer skidded, almost running to her. She waited for Maura to say something, but instead the smaller woman tilted her chin up to leave a languid kiss on her lips.

"This is why women usually come to my house."

An amused smirk earned her an eye roll and pat on the ass as Jane pushed her toward the living room grumbling, "yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Dr. Isles!" A gaggle of long arms and legs came flying at her and she adjusted her purse onto her shoulder in time to return the boy's energetic embrace.

"Good morning, Leonardo." She couldn't contain the grin stretching across her face as the boy squeezed her and returned the greeting. "And you must be his grandmother. It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Rizzoli."

"Oh," she screeched bypassing Maura's outreached hand and wrapped her arms around the dancer's shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, too, honey. And please call me Angela."

"I'll keep that in mind," Maura choked out as the older woman finally loosened her vice hold and backed up.

"Leo's told me so much about you!"

"Has he?" she laughed reaching over to place her hand on her student's shoulder. He beamed up at her and nodded his head so hard she was concerned for his neck.

"Yeah, and my Janie has, too." Maura's eyebrows rose as she looked over her shoulder at the woman who hadn't said a word since they left the bedroom and was practically hiding behind her.

"Has she?" she said lowly, only for Jane's ears, both of which were now tinted red.

"Who's ready for the game?" Jane said clearing her throat. She walked over to the counter and grabbed her wallet and keys, then promptly dropped them on the floor when her son opened his mouth.

"Do you wanna come with us Dr. Isles?"

"No!" Jane yelled and immediately felt her mouth go dry.

It wasn't that she didn't want Maura to come with them. It just wasn't what they had agreed to. It wasn't part of the plan. And that morning, waking up to being the dancer's little spoon, feeling Maura's breasts rise and fall against her back, and intertwining their fingers underneath the cover was all too close. She'd lost her head in it all and the last thing she needed was to spend more time getting to know her. She didn't need to know what her favorite ice cream flavor was or how much she _didn't_ know about baseball. It was dangerous to find out that she doesn't really sweat in the sun or that she tends to accidentally cheer for the wrong team. None of that told her how to make Maura moan, which though she could feel it quickly waning, was her top priority.

"Why not, Ma?" Jane looked over to the other woman who was pursing her lips and waiting expectantly for her to answer.

"You probably have other more important things to do than hang out in the dust with us," Jane said looking to Maura for some kind of support.

"Actually, I'd love to go to the game with you." The officer released something between a painful groan and a chuckle as Maura continued to stare at her. Jane could feel panic tickling the back of her neck and she furrowed her brow wondering what the hell Maura was doing. On her end, the dancer let the moment sit for a second. She knew what this was. She knew what she was supposed to say, but maybe a little teasing was the kick in the butt Jane needed. Finally, after a long while of Jane's palpable anxiety she smiled pleasantly and turned to the boy and his grandmother. "Unfortunately, I do of errands to run. So, maybe next time."

"Aw," Leo said slightly defeated.

"Yeah, next time," Jane said trying to match her son's tone. "Here let me walk you out." Maura said her _goodbyes_ and _nice to meet you_ before following a mute Jane out the door. When they'd made it to the front of the apartment building and Jane still hadn't said anything, she feared that she'd crossed a line and reached out to Jane.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"No, I'm sorry." Jane stopped and turned. Maura was surprised to see embarrassment tenting her smile. "My son thinks he's slick. He shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."

"Oh," Maura smiled bashfully.

"And I wasn't any help at all. Are you okay?"

Maura nodded. "You don't have to protect me from your son," she said slipping her hand into one of Jane's.

"I don't know," Jane laughed. "We're just alike so I beg to differ." The blonde laughed and watched Jane peak over her shoulder before leaning down to kiss her.

"He's lucky to be just like his mother." A look, one Maura couldn't decipher, crossed over Jane's face and she leaned down to kiss Maura again; a little longer this time.

"I'll text you?"

"Okay," Maura whispered finally pulling away from those intoxicating lips.

Just as she was opening the door to the building, Jane called her name. "Do you wanna get lunch or coffee some time to _actually_ talk about the security for the showcase."

Jane rubbed the back of her neck and Maura felt her heart swell a little. She swallowed her telling smile and said, "Lunch sounds amazing, Jane."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Skipping the sex scene was intentional. I'm going to do that quite a bit because I feel like one love scene in particular is important. That one will not be skipped over and has already been written. Hope you enjoyed this.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR! If you like it, let me know.

* * *

 

"How do I look?" Nina sat back on the bed, hands buried in shirts and dresses and skirts that just didn't fit right today. Her friend had been going crazy ever since she got a text from her so called casual sex partner. They'd been going over the schedule for the week. Coming over without asking, Nina had set to making them coffee to enjoy while they worked when Maura's phone buzzed. A text from Jane asking her if she'd like to have lunch with her in a few hours. When her friend had told her that Jane offered last week to take her to lunch, she wasn't sure if the woman would follow through. Falling into bed with the officer twice more since then had Maura six outfits down and in a full panic.

"That looks…" she thought about how to say she looked great differently than the last six times she'd tried to convince her friend that she always wore the right thing. "…you look pretty hot, Maur."

"Really?" she asked, scrunching her face up and turning back toward the mirror. She smoothed her hand over the green dress and tilted her head to the side as if that would change her disposition about its fit. "You don't think it's too tight?"

"I think it's entirely too tight," Nina laughed. "But isn't that the point?"

"The point is to get her to like me."

"She does, Maura."

"Yes, but…" the dancer sighed running her fingers through her hair which she'd changed from its long, flowy nature to a ponytail, then back again. "I want her to like more than just my body."

Nina let her head roll back, letting out a loud breath before going to stand behind her friend. She placed her hands on her shoulders to stop her fidgeting from one foot to another. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," she whispered. "Jane likes you because you're smart, caring and funny…and having a rocking body is just a bonus."

"Could you do me a favor and tell her that?"

"Alright. Listen to me." Maura was running her fingers along the makeup on her cheek bones, but stopped when her friend turned her around. "You want me to be honest, here it is. Sure, I thought it was okay for you two to just do your thing and not worry about feelings, but Maura, this is getting ridiculous. You need to be honest with her or you're going to get hurt and we can't go down that road, because then I'll have to go to jail." When Maura looked at her quizzically, her nostrils flared slightly and all pretenses of joy dropped from her face. "If she hurts you, I'll have to hurt her." she said stressing every syllable with a squeeze of her friend's shoulders. "I don't wanna go to jail, Maura."

"Prison," she said shaking her head. "She's a police officer. You'd go to pris—"

"Worth it," Nina said shrugging. As a smile grew over her face, Maura leaned in to hug her friend.

"Thank you," she mumbled into her shoulder.

"Just tell her how you feel. I have a feeling everything will work out."

Maura pulled back and grabbed her earrings from the dresser. "You do?"

"Yes," she said smiling. "And I'm not saying that just because I think Rizzoli could probably kick my ass."

Maura erupted with laughter hopping around to put one foot in her stiletto and then the other. "Probably. I mean, Nina, I swear…..her back musculature is just—"

"Okay, but I didn't need you to agree." They both laughed and as Nina was about to ask where they were going for lunch, the doorbell rang.

Maura cursed under her breath and turned back to the mirror. "I'm not ready yet. Will you let her in on your way out?"

"Sure," Nina said already walking toward the cracked bedroom door. She stopped and looked back to the dancer tasseling her hair again. "Hey, tiny dancer. You look great."

Looking at her friend through the mirror, Maura smiled. "Thanks, Nina."

"You'll tell me about it later?" With a small nod from Maura, Nina left taking the steps a little quicker when the doorbell was rung twice more.

By the time Maura made it to the first floor of her home she could hear the tapping of Jane's boots pacing across her hardwood floors. "I'm ready. I'm sorry that took—" at the bottom of the stairs she halted letting her eyes sweep Jane from head to toe.

Jane's eyes did the same, albeit with more glee than the dancer's. "Wow. You look beautiful."

"I'm…" Maura placed her hand back on the banister, taking one step back up the stairs. "I'm overdressed," she said. She didn't know where Jane was taking her, hence the incessant wardrobe changes. Her green dress clung to her hips, stopping a few inches above her knees and was sleeveless, the neck scooping below her collar bones. Jane on the other hand wore a black dress shirt, dark jeans and her usual work boots, though it seemed liked they'd been given a once-over with a wet towel. "I should go change."

"Whoa, whoa, hey," Jane said rushing to catch Maura before she'd sped up the steps. Pulling her back down to the landing, Jane held out Maura's arm and stepped back. "No, I want to look at you." Maura stiffened at first under the scrutiny, but smiled and relaxed into her shoes when the officer groaned and rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Perfect," she said finally meeting her eyes and pulling her closer.

"You like it?"

"I love it," Jane pulled her closer keeping her right hand in Maura's left and lifting the other to wrap around the dancer's waist. "All this for little ole me?" When Maura nodded with coy eyes and a dizzying smile stretching across her face, she leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Maura placed her hands on Jane's chest. She groaned, pulling back and shaking her head. "We're never going to make it out of here if you keep doing that."

"Doing what?" Jane smirked tightening her grip around Maura and pulling her to her chest.

"That," Maura said, feeling her back arch and letting her head fall to the officer's shoulder.

Jane dragged her hand down to just above Maura's ass. "Right. You mean this?"

"Jane!" Maura said loudly snapping her hand down to Jane's wrist. "You cannot do—"

"Alright, alright, sheesh," Jane chuckled pulling away. "Oh, I almost forgot." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small red box with a squished green bow on top. "I…uh…got you this." Maura looked up to the woman curiously for a moment before reaching and taking the box gently. "I know Christmas is a few months away and I'm not even sure if you celebrate it, but I uh…I heard some of the kids talking about how you guys put up a tree at the studio and just figured…you know—"

"Oh." Maura pinched the end of the looped string with her fingers and lifted the tiny figurine out of the box. It was a clear, glass Christmas ornament of a dancer. She felt her mind blank for a second and heat rise around her face. "This is…"

"If you don't like it, I can take it back. I just saw it the other day and it reminded me of you." The dancer looked up to see Jane's shifting eyes, waiting for a response, whatever that may be. She apprehensively reached up to rub the back of her neck behind her dark curls and kept her eyes on the dancer in Maura's hand.

"I love it. It's…the best present anyone has ever given me."

Unsure at first, Jane asked, "Yeah?"

Placing the dancer back in the box, Maura put her hand on Jane's cheek and leaned up to kiss her. "Yes."

Christmas was not a big deal in the Isles household. Occasionally, her parents would sit on the couch while she opened gifts, unsurprisingly all from her wish list. Then, they would all go about their day as if it weren't special. Mostly, though, the week leading up to Christmas would find UPS boxes on her doorstep each day and ultimately Maura sitting silently, opening them one by one in front of a concerned nanny. Alone. She hadn't been given a gift that wasn't the result of her explicit instructions until she'd met Nina who was surprised at her lack of agility while setting up a store-bought Christmas tree. Ever since then, she'd made it a point to make sure there was a real one set up in the studio for her students.

"Maur?" She hadn't realized how caught up she'd gotten in the memory until she felt a finger smear wetness down her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"You didn't," she reassured quickly. She laughed and shook her head, "I mean you did, but…it's just that we never really had Christmas in my house when I was a child."

A sense of dread peaked through Jane's demeanor then. "Oh. Well I can—"

Maura stopped her as she began to pull the box away. "No, Jane...I…" she looked at the woman again and smiled kissing her once more. "Thank you," she whispered as she pressed her forehead to Jane's. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jane said gently. She smiled and leaned back and with a voice reminiscent of a coy nervousness, she asked Maura if she was ready to go. Maura nodded not letting go of Jane's hand as they walked toward the door.

When they pulled up to the restaurant, Maura wasn't quite sure what part of town she was in. She hadn't done much exploring since coming back to Boston, preferring to stick to work and home. She watched Jane hurry to her side of the car to open the door and blushed slightly at the expected, kind act.

"Where are we?" She asked following closely to Jane. She smiled to herself as Jane laced their fingers together, but avoided eye contact as she did so.

"The Dirty Robber. It's one of my favorite spots. A lot of cops come here and sometimes I bring Lee after school to grab dinner."

They walked into the restaurant and Maura admired the aesthetic of the place. There was smooth music playing and the reddish-brown of the brick wall complimented the low lighting and made her feel comfortable. She sat down in the booth across from Jane, but it wasn't until they'd ordered their drinks that she noticed the eyes on them.

Looking at one man in particular that was still staring at her, she tilted her head. "People are staring at us."

"Yeah, I know," Jane huffed, picking at the paper on her beer bottle. "I've never really brought anyone here besides Leo and sometimes Frost can't keep his damn mouth shut."

"Frost?"

"Oh," Jane looked up to her as if surprised she hadn't mentioned him before. "He's my partner. My work partner."

The dancer blinked slowly, leaning slightly forward and smiling. "So, you've told your partner about me. About our relationship?"

Jane shrugged. "I tell him everything. Not that I can help it though. The second he thinks something is off he's like a dog with a bone." She says, lips curled around the tip of the bottle in amusement.

"So, all of these people know that we're…."

"What?" Jane smirked. "Fucking?" Maura's eyebrows scrunched as she inadvertently slinked down in her seat. Jane laughed at the blush on the dancer's cheeks and neck, looking off to the side to take a long draw from her bottle. "No, they don't. I think it probably has something to do with how gorgeous the woman sitting across from me is."

"You're very confusing," Maura mumbled into her wine glass.

"I prefer deceptively complex." Maura's embarrassment grew a little. She didn't know Jane had heard her. Something was going on, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Jane was acting strangely. Nicer or maybe…gentler. And flirting more, but not in their usual I want to tear your clothes off way. Like now, she sat staring at her even through Maura's worsening blush.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jane's grin only grew. "Like what?"

Maura sat up, clearing her throat and took a sip of her wine. "The students are almost ready for the first competition. Well, almost all of them and Nina and I have been working diligently on the lighting and musical cues, though it has been mostly Nina. She's far more knowledgeable about these things than I am and—"

"Maura," Jane interrupted. She chuckled and smirked and Maura could feel her stomach tighten. "Despite what I said last week…I didn't really ask you to lunch to talk about work."

Jane tried to read the dancer's face as she sat back a little and placed her hands in her lap. Then, Maura expelled a small confused sigh. "Why did you invite me, Jane?"

A half laugh half uncomfortable huff left Jane. "Sounded like a good idea at the time."

"Jane—"

"I want to know more about you, Maura."

"You mean beyond what makes me moan?" she asked. When Jane saw the smirk on the dancer's lips she sighed in relief and laughed.

"Yeah, beyond that."

The server walked up to take their orders then and when she'd left they sat in silence again. Maura pondered what was happening. After the first time they had sex Jane had become kinder to her. It was progressive, but today it was immensely unsettling. Not that she didn't like the attention, she was just confused by the mixed messages. In the beginning, Jane was adamant about this being strictly physical, but lately she was treating her like…a girlfriend.

"Maura?"

"What?" She said abruptly looking up from the dark red of her glass.

"Are you okay? You seem a little uncomfortable," Jane said.

"No, not uncomfortable. Just…" Maura hesitated for a moment then decided to ride the vibe. "What would you do if I kissed you?"

The officer's eyes grew slightly and her focus darted down to her pink lips. "Right now?" Maura nodded. She watched Jane's eyes glide from hers to her lips and then back up. "Honestly," Jane let out a light sigh. "I don't know I'd stop you."

The server came back with their food and the subject fizzled, though the eye contact didn't. Now they were halfway through their meal. Maura listened to Jane talk about the time she walked around work with a toilet paper tail for an hour before she went to pick up her son and her mother told her. Then suddenly there was a stinging swat at her hand.

"Ow!"

"You think I don't see you stealing all of my fries, Isles. I asked you if you wanted your own order." Maura laughed and shrugged as she snuck another sweet potato fry into her mouth.

"Your mother seems lovely." Jane smiled, unsure of where that came from. "When I met her last week, she was very kind to me, though I think she might have suspected."

"Ah. Yeah, she seems a lot of things."

"I think she likes me."

"Well that's not hard to do, Maura," she said barely focused as she retrieved her credit card from the check and signed her name on the receipt. "Ready?"

"Wait." Jane halted as Maura tugged on the sleeve of her shirt, leaning over and kissing her on the lips. They stayed pressed together for a moment before Maura pulled back with half concern and half excitement on her face. "You didn't stop me."

Jane covered the hand still around her wrist and swallowed. "Guess not."

* * *

 

**11:57 P.M.**

[Jane] Seriously…you have no response?

[Frosty] I'm just shocked.

[Jane] Yeah, me too.

[Frosty] Not at her. At you.

[Jane] Me! What did I do?!

[Frosty] It's what you didn't do. You didn't stop her.

[Frosty] You're the one who said you just wanted to be FWB, right?

[Jane] Yeah, but she's so sweet and…I don't know, man.

[Frosty] You like her.

[Jane] Not like that, Frost.

[Frosty] Yes, like that.

[Jane] I mean she's good with Leo.

[Frosty] You like her.

[Jane] and smart and beautiful

[Frost] You like her.

[Jane] and god so fucking sexy but also adorable

[Frosty] You like her.

[Jane] SO WHAT! You know I can't do anything.

[Frost] And why the fuck not. Look you have feelings for her

and she obviously has feelings for you too. You can't

tell her you only want to use her body, then take her

on a date and act all cuddly and wifey.

[Jane] First of all I'm not USING her. we both agreed to this.

And second…it wasn't a date.

[Frosty] You went to dinner at the Robber then kissed at

the end then went back to her place. It was a

date…

**12:13 a.m.**

[Frosty] Jane?

[Frosty] What. You mad at me for telling you're dumb

ass the truth? I'm trying to HELP you.

[Jane] Not a dumbass.

[Frosty] Seems like it to me. You're missing out on

dating this amazing woman and you won't do it

because you're scared?

**12:20 a.m.**

[Frosty] Stop pouting.

[Jane] I'm not pouting.

[Frosty] THEN STOP GHOSTING ME!

[Jane] ….she just called.

[Frosty] ….what did she say?

[Jane] I didn't answer.

[Frosty] Alright, I'm done with whatever you think you're

proving by not going after her.

[Jane] I'm not trying to prove anything! It's complicated.

**12:36 a.m.**

[Jane] Frost?

[Jane] Come on, man.

[Frosty] Call her back.

[Jane] No.

[Frosty] Call. Black. Swan. Now.

[Jane] We just saw each other 4 hrs ago.

[Frosty] Tell me you aren't dying to talk to her.

[Frosty] That's what I thought.

[Jane] You're supposed to be helping snap me out of

this.

[Jane] Really?

[Jane] Frost.

[Jane] FINE!

"I didn't wake you up before, did I?" Maura asked as a greeting. Jane stretched her legs out under the comforter. She wasn't sure what had gotten in to her earlier. Holding Maura's hand and staring at her like she was an angelic embodiment of love. She couldn't help it. They'd been spending a lot of time together lately and she wasn't sure how it happened, but she was beginning to lose control on her romantic restraints. The intimacy was changing from wanting to pin Maura to the mattress to holding her close after they both were spent and sated. She'd texted Frost in a panic, but had gotten the opposite of the kick in the butt she needed to reign it in. "Jane?"

"Sorry. Uh, no I was up…working. What's up?" she said lowly.

"I just wanted to say that I had a really nice time today."

Jane chuckled softly, placing one hand under her head. "You said that. Several times."

"I know," Maura said sighing happily. "Today was just…different. Or was it just me?"

Jane was silent for a moment. She was aware of the way she behaved today. But honestly, it felt nice. Bumping shoulders with Maura when they walked back to the car, telling her about the time her brother was sent to jail. Learning that Maura's mother was some famous artist in France and her father was an Anthropology professor. Being irrationally angry when she found out the dancer's peers called her Maura-the-Bora in her fancy boarding school because of her love for science…finding out that Maura loved science. And for some reason, and for the first time, really taking her time on Maura's body. Realizing she likes to hold her close as she comes undone. It was all very dizzying.

"No…it wasn't just you." Maura hummed on the other end of the line and stayed silent. A full three minutes passed before Maura softly whispered Jane's name. "Yeah?"

"I…" she paused and Jane could hear her exhaling louder. "I want to tell you something. But I don't want to ruin it."

Jane swallowed and gripped the back of her head tighter. "What would you ruin?"

"…Us. This."

"Just tell me, Maura."

"Ma?" Jane's head quickly rose from the pillow to see the door to her bedroom cracked and a bundle of brown hair peeking through.

"Lee?"

"Are you talking to Dr. Isles?" he asked stepping into the room.

"Um…" she could hear Maura on the other end call her name. "Just a sec." She looked back at her son who was now standing at the end of the bed. "Yeah, bug. What's up." He didn't say anything at first and Jane held her breath until he shrugged and crawled up to the top of the bed, slipping under the cover and placing his head on her shoulder.

"Hi, Dr. Isles," he said.

"Leo?" the dancer answered.

"Yeah, it's him. Did you have a nightmare?" He nodded his head against her chest and pressed harder against her until she laid back against the pillow.

"It was terrible, Ma. I tried to count like you said and go back to sleep…but I just couldn't."

"I'm sorry, stink bug. Do you want me to make you some cocoa?" The boy shook his head. "No? What do you need?" When he didn't say anything, her attention was returned to the woman on the other end who spoke up.

"Is he having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah," Jane said, swiping her hand through his thick hair.

"I have an idea if that's okay with you," Maura said softly.

"Um…okay. What is it?"

"Put me on speaker." Jane did as she was told and was so shocked that she wasn't sure she hadn't already fallen asleep and was dreaming.

_"Tiha noć, sveta noć,_   
_Ponoć je, spava sve,"_

Leo's eyes opened for a second and then fluttered close as Maura continued to sing. Jane on the other end couldn't even feel herself breathing. Sure, it was slightly off pitch in certain moments, but it was absolutely the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard in her life.

_"Pastiri slavite, rodi se Spas,_   
_Mir je između nas,_   
_Hristos je izmedju nas"_

The officer could feel her body relax and settle further into the bed. Without thinking she closed her eyes and barely registered the dancer starting the song over once more before she came to the last line.

_"Ljubav, praštanje, mir,_   
_Praštanje, ljubav i mir."_

All three of them sat in the silence as Maura's voice rang the end of the song. It was calming and Jane wasn't sure if she wanted to speak. There was a cloud of tranquility over the two Rizzolis that Maura had spun all around them. Finally, Maura whispered, "Is he asleep?"

Jane's eyes opened slowly and she realized her grip on her cell phone had slacked considerably. She looked down to her son's even breathing. "What…what was that? That…that was beautiful, Maura."

Maura laughed quietly. "It was just Silent Night."

"What language was that?" she asked, taking the phone off of speaker mode.

"Serbian. My nanny used to sing it to me when I was upset."

"God, your voice is just…" Jane stopped, not knowing how to express what she was feeling.

Maura laughed again. "Thank you, Jane."

"You're amazing," Jane said closing her eyes again. Maura simply sighed.

"Goodnight, Jay."

Jane's smile grew at the nickname. "Night, Maur."


	9. Chapter 9

Kaitlyn knew the walls of the studio like the back of her hand. She'd been here almost every day for the past ten years of her life after all. She'd spent time in every single practice room. Dancing alone, with her fellow students and of course with the most attentive teacher she'd ever had; Dr. Maura Isles. She knew the light burgundy paint of the hallway leading to her boss's office. Many a time she'd skipped lunch and gone to listen to her teacher tell stories of traveling the world dancing. Listening to her regale times of difficulty and triumph, sadness and joy. Kaitlyn had heard Maura go to bat for her, arguing with Kaitlyn's mother and ultimately convincing her to start her new clinic in Africa remotely so that Kaitlyn could stay in her study. She'd heard her laugh and cry when she'd first asked her friend Nina to work there. Yes, she knew these walls and this studio and this office and Maura. But never had she heard something quite like this come out of Maura or her office or through these walls.

Her fingers slid from her grip on the cold door knob as she took a step back. She waited one more second making sure what she thought she heard was true and was subsequently reaffirmed. Heat rising to the tips of her ears and nervous laughter bubbling up her throat she quickly raised her hand to her mouth turning and quietly running back down the hall.

"Jesus…"

"And look at that," Jane laughed slipping the fingers of her left hand from underneath Maura's skirt and grabbing the woman's cellphone with the other. She leaned up, moving the phone closer to the woman who was breathing heavily with her eyes closed. "Still got 57 seconds left," she said proudly muting the alarm before it went off.

"Yes, well," Maura chuckled fighting exhaustion and sitting up on her desk. Her fingers fumbled over the buttons of her dress shirt that had been hastily tugged open. "For some reason…I continue to underestimate you…even though you're—"

"The best you've ever had?" Jane kissed the side of the dancer's head as she pulled the woman's panties the rest of the way down her legs and slipping them into her pocket.

"Yes, actually." Maura smiled pointing down to what the officer had just slipped into her pocket. "But I'll need those back."

"Nope."

"Jane—"

"Maura," Jane mimicked tilting her head. "You said I had five minutes to make you cum. I did it in less so these are mine."

"Really?" She hopped off the desk, dragging her skirt back around her thighs and surveying the room. Her eyes landed on Jane scrunching her eye brows and glaring for a moment before they both laughed, Jane putting her hands on her hips and tugging at her kit belt, nose proudly raised. Maura leaned her back against the desk as she watched the officer bending over and picking up various papers and folders that had been swiped to the ground with one arm. "So…um…"

"Yeah?" Jane looked back at Maura reaching for the Tupperware container on the floor near her pointed heels.

"Tell your mother thanks for the cookies."

"Oh," Jane sighed swiping her hand through her hair and pushing her shirt back into the waist band of her pants. "Of course. And thank you…for _your_ cookies," Jane said smirking then smiling bashfully at Maura's sour expression. "Yeah, it uh…sounded better in my head," she said causing the dancer to laugh.

There was a knock on the door and they both tensed for a moment. "Three minutes, Dr. Isles."

"Thank you!" she said moving quickly around the room to grab her notebook and starting toward the door.

"Wait you're not changing?"

"Oh, no. I'm just observing today. Really I'll be in and out making sure everyone is progressing and then I'll have to review my notes and go from there since we only have two weeks until the competition. With the time left, I'll be visiting each class and fixing things that I've found could use work."

"Wow," Jane said pulling the door open and following Maura out. "That sounds stressful."

"It is."

"Then are we still on for tonight or…"

"Why wouldn't we be." Maura turned to Jane at the end of the hallway, peaking over the officer's shoulder before stepping closer. "I'm thankful that I have someone to help me with my stress," she said smirking.

Jane nodded with one eyebrow raise. "Ian, right? I saw him in his office earlier."

Maura tilted her head at the immediate realization of the officer's tone and smiled instantly at the surprised tad of jealousy. "Sort of. But Ian is more of a marketing and logistics man. He doesn't relieve my stress."

"You sure about that?" Jane asked looking down into Maura's eyes.

"I'm positive….In fact," She placed her hand on Jane's chest. "No one is…except you, Jane."

Jane didn't speak for a moment. She wrapped her hand around the one on her chest and brought it to her lips. "Just me?"

"Yes," Maura whispered, blushing and feeling like her chest was moving slower and quicker at the same time. "Only you."

Jane was stumped again before leaning forward and kissing Maura. "You, too. Only you, Maura."

The dancer swallowed slowly at the seriousness of that statement and the ends of her mouth quirked up. "I know," she said before pulling away. "I should…" she pointed her thumb over her shoulder as she continued to walk backwards.

"Yeah I'll um…I'll see you later." She watched Maura bite her lip and disappear around the corner. She took a deep breath and headed the opposite direction down the hallway.

* * *

"You know this guy?" Maura startled slightly at the deep voice coming from behind her. She turned away from the students rehearsing to look over her shoulder at Jane and then the dark-skinned man making his way past the officer. His grin stretched the limits of his scruffy beard, his vibrant green bowtie now matching the intensity of Maura's smile.

"Ronald!" Maura said laughing. Jane stood, both apprehension and delight taking over her features as she watched Maura jog seemingly uncontrollably to the man and embrace him.

"Oh, I've missed you, Doc!" the man said laughing.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," Maura said pulling away but keeping her hands on his shoulders.

"Well, you know ole Rondo moves around a lot."

Jane walked over to the couple with her head shaking and her hands raised up. "Wait a minute…you're telling me that you actually _know_ Rondo?"

Maura looked over as if she'd forgotten that the officer was still there. "Yes. I came across him a few years ago playing a keyboard and invited him to play the piano for one of our competition piece." She turned back to Rondo. "I've been trying to find you. We have the perfect dance for your talents."

"Really? Let me take a look at the music and see what I can—"

"Wait a minute!" Jane said loudly bringing herself back into the conversation. " _You_ ," she pointed to the dancer, "know Rondo?"

"Jane," the doctor scoffed. "Yes. I know…Ronald," she sighed amusingly, pointedly saying his full name. "How do you know him?"

"I know Rondo because he's obsessed with me and won't leave me alone," Jane deadpanned.

"See, I told you I knew people in high places," Rondo said standing taller and gesturing to Maura beside him. "Doctor Vanilla…meet Officer Vanilla." Maura burst in to laughter at Jane's obviously irritated demeanor at the pet name. "How're our little stars doing?" he asked winking at Jane and turning back to the students.

"Actually, we have a few new students, but we're almost ready for competition season."

Rondo hummed in appreciation. "Any of them good enough to steal your crown yet?" he said jokingly nudging her.

Maura blushed as her eyes trailed over Leonardo and Kenya's moves together. They moved so well together and it took her back momentarily to her dancing days. She still dances, but not nearly to the extent that she used to. Usually only to demonstrate something for a student or when she has free time to herself to just relax. When she first moved into her home, one of the first things she'd done was convert the basement into a studio of her own. She had a bit of help from a friend in interior design for her house, but the basement studio was all hers. She spent almost two weeks visualizing how she wanted it to look before beginning the instillations. It was her place of quiet to dance, relax and do yoga in occasionally. As she watched the dancers float around the room synchronized, she felt that tugging in her heart that told her that dance was the true love of her life.

"Not quite," she said softly.

"What about that one? He looks pretty good."

The doctor smiled and looked over to the sulking officer. "That's Leonardo. Jane's son." It was almost comical the speed at which the man whipped his entire body around.

" _Son_? You didn't tell me you had a kid!" he said.

"Gee, I'm sorry, would you like my social security number too," she grumbled, though Maura could since her amusement in the intentionally pursed lips.

"So…" Rondo bounced on his toes. "Does that mean there's a _Mr_. Officer Vanilla?" Raising her hand to cover her giggle, Maura looked up eager for what Jane's explanation would be. The officer looked over to Maura and watched her for a second. She hadn't told Maura about Leo's father yet and really, she hadn't felt like she needed to until recently. However, she sure as hell wasn't doing it in front of Rondo.

Jane said through clenched teeth, " _that's none of your business._ "

"You sure, Vanilla?" he said wide eyed and moving closer to her. "Rondo just got a piano gig. Rolling in dough, baby."

"Rondo—" Jane said in warning.

"Okay, maybe…" Maura once again tried to hide her laugh. She placed her hands on Rondo's shoulders and turned him toward the door. "Maybe you should go by Ian's office for the music and start rehearsing."

"Oh, you're right!" Rondo said and left, but not without a wink to both women in parting.

They both watched him leaving and released sighs when the door clicked behind him. After a minute passed, Jane rolled her shoulders. "I should go follow him before he starts interrogating people about my baby daddy."

Maura nodded turning back to the class before calling after Jane. "Yeah?" Jane asked nervously waiting for the following questions about Leo's father.

" _Officer Vanilla_?" Maura asked curiously tilting her head.

Jane rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed. "Uh…just Jane is fine," she said feeling her ears heat up.

"No. You—" Maura's confused expression morphed into a coy smile and her eyes sparkled a little. "Oh my god. You're the police officer Ronald was telling me about. The one that _gave_ him the keyboard I saw him playing."

"Yeah," Jane said shrugging and lower her head.

"That was three years ago, Jane."

"So technically it's my fault."

The dancer paused for a moment, before stepping dazedly forward; forgetting where she was and who was surrounding her. "What?"

"I mean, if it weren't for me, you never would have seen him playing and probably never would have met him. So, for that…I am deeply sorry."

"Jane," Maura chuckled still looking up at Jane as if she were the most emotional piece of art in the most exquisite museum. Noticing the other woman's stare Jane's blush deepened and she bashfully raised her eyebrow.

"What?" Jane let out a breath caught between wonderment and worry.

"Hm?" Maura said hoarsely before shaking her head and swallowing. "Nothing, I just…can't believe how sweet you are…how wonderful. And I…I really wish I could kiss you right now."

"Me too," Jane whispered. Her head felt dizzy and heavy, her dark locs falling around her face as her neck slumped closer to the woman in front of her. "I'll see you tonight after my brother picks up Leo."

"Okay," Maura said almost innocently biting her lip and barely keeping her eyes off of Jane's thin pink lips. The longer they stood there, the thicker Jane felt the moment got. Just standing there enticingly and feeling the near vibration in the air all around them had Jane almost salivating. It was strange in a new alluring way; kind of like warm honey saturating her. She wasn't sure if she would have enough strength to pull herself out of the drugged overload. Finally, Maura placed one hand on her chest. "Jane."

"Mmm…shit," Jane exhaled.

"Agreed." Jane's eyes finally met hers and she could see the appreciation in her eyes before she clenched her jaw and left the room without a word.

* * *

The dancer had only been in Jane's apartment for ten minutes before the officer pulled her into her lap, kissing her neck slowly. Before, she'd been sitting in her car around the block from Jane's apartment for almost fifteen minutes. Usually, she waited for Jane to text her that Leo was gone before heading over to the officer's place. This time though, she was anxious to see her after their somewhat whimsical moment earlier and her anxiety caused her to arrive twenty minutes early. On top of that, Jane had texted her to say her brother would be late picking Leo up. But the way Jane had answered the door, letting her walk in without saying much had Maura thinking about the moment at the studio all over again. And now the way Jane was touching her, though reverent, she seemed distracted. Maybe she was thinking about it too.

"Is…is everything okay?" Maura asked.

Jane slid her hands underneath Maura's shirt to the bottom of her bra, lightly tugging on the straps. "What do you mean?"

"Just that I'm sitting on top of you, kissing your neck and you act like you're watching the Sox lose again," Maura said lightly.

"Hold on now," Jane scoffed. "Don't bash the Sox, alright…they've had a slow season, but we're going to come out on top."

Maura threw her head back, laughing lowly. "Jane," she groaned tightening her thighs on either side of the officer's lap.

Jane's eyes wondered up and down the dancer's body before pulling her hands back to settle on the woman's hips. "No, you're right. I'm just worried."

Maura paused and swallowed quickly. "About what?"

"This damn exam," Jane said groaning.

Maura blinked as her mind went blank for a second. "What exam?" she asked scooting back to sit more on Jane's knees and giving them a bit of separation.

"Detective's exam." Maura watched as Jane sighed heavily and rubbed her face. "It's in three weeks and I don't know…I'm nervous cause I really want to get homicide from the jump. You know? No starting in VICE or whatever. Homicide is really where I want to be."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"Whoa, wait—" Jane grumbled as Maura started to get up and gather her things. "I didn't say you had to leave."

"I don't want to distract you. If you're so worried about the exam then you should be studying. Not—…...really, Jane?" she laughed seeing the woman pouting on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I don't want you to go." Maura felt herself blink quickly and tried to contain her smile. She'd thought that she would have to try extremely hard to get Jane to realize what was happening between them. The feelings that were growing would have to be nurtured with delicately said words and seemingly oblivious actions on her part. But she wasn't doing anything differently. At least not that she could tell and the officer was asking her to stay. Just stay.

"You want to study, but you don't want me to go?" Jane nodded her head, her eye contact not wavering. "Why don't I…" She leaned down placing a kiss on the brunette's forehead, "stay _and_ help you study. Like a study partner."

"You'd do that for me?" Jane asked, eyes lighting up as she pulled the woman back down to her lap.

"Of course. And for every correct answer, I'll give you a kiss."

"A kiss?"

"Mhm," the dancer hummed running her fingers through Jane's hair.

"I have a better idea." At Maura's raised eyebrows Jane smiled. "A correct answer for a fact about you."

"You want to know about me?" Maura whispered, settling more into the officer's lap.

"Yeah. I told you that already."

"I know. I just…" Maura sighed as she felt hands wrap around her waist and pull her closer. "Correct answer for a fact."

Jane nuzzled her nose near Maura's neck. "Good."

"Then, let's get started."

 


End file.
